A Shinobi is also a Hunter, But What About a Lightning Thief?
by EternalKing
Summary: Life was good for the Child of Prophecy. Brought to another world by his godly parent, Naruto will bring peace. "Nothing escapes me. This is MY territory." Time to hunt down some evil and kick ass.
1. Chapter 1

I don't want any characters bashed in this one. So even if I dislike them a little. Both Sasuke and sakura will be a little like "I am not going through puberty again" because it was a good fic with a likable pair of teammates for Naruto.

Naruto abilities are pre war so no cloak. Also the hunter in him will be enhanced.

Will seem very similar to other works. Why? Because inspiration.

Chapter start.

A lone figure could be found leaping in the forest, invisible to even the most experienced shinobi.

The form was that of a woman but her identity was being shielded by a white cloak that was hooded and kept her face from sight.

This woman was an immortal or to be more precise an Olympian Goddess.

The Elemental Nations were known by the Olympians and the other minor gods and were visited from time to time. However, the gods did not have much power in this realm.

When she arrived in the Elemental Nation for the first time she marvelled at its beauty and how untouched the forests and the wilds were. However she was not expecting to fall in love during her time there but yet that was what exactly happened. His name was Minato Namikaze. He was just so different to most men that she met.

Most men she met were pigs in her eyes, only caring about their pride, their power, their wealth, themselves in general. But yet there was this man who was the complete opposite. He was warm, kind, respected everyone round him and even his enemies. He was loved by everyone in the village and yet he was never arrogant, never cocky, and was never full of himself.

But what also intrigued her was that he was a demi god and a legacy. He said even though he never met her, his mother was a goddess and that she talked to him sometimes in his dreams. When she found out who Minato's Olympian parent was she could not believe it. To say she was shocked was an understatement. It was the last person she had ever expected to have a demi god child other than herself.

But yet she fell in love with him and spent two wonderful years in this world with him.

Then the impossible happened. She was pregnant with her son. At first she had these confused feelings, not completely sure if this was the right thing to do. However, she soon found out who Minato was a legacy of, and would eventually be convinced by the goddess and Minato to have the child.

In the end she couldn't believe she was so reluctant about having the child. She even decided to have the baby in the span of nine months.

But then finally her son was born and right then and there she had never been happier then holding her son in her arms. When her son opened his eyes they were sapphire blue just like his father but she could see a twinkle of silver just like hers. Her heart melted and her son quickly took an unmovable place in her immortal heart.

But the happiness was quick to end. On the very same night, the village was attacked by the Nine Tailed Demon Fox and the worst had happened. The man she loved gave his life to protect the village he cared about and was left with no choice but to seal the beast into their son.

She was weak from just giving birth and was stuck to staying in bed. That night she silently cried as she rocked her son to sleep, failing at keeping her tears at bay. Minato's spirit would go to their world's afterlife, a place she could never visit. Plus now her son carried the power of a great beast that's strength could at best match the mighty Typhon, the bane of the Olympians.

It had been fourteen and a half years since then. Since her beloved died. Since the day she had to leave her son behind.

She was an Olympian goddess and the ancient rules stated that all demi god children had to be raised by their mortal parents. But her love died and her son was left without their mortal parent. However, both Zeus and the gods of this world did not allow her.

Before she left she was gifted one last hour with her son, something she was grateful for.

Once the unforgettable hour was up, she gave him to the four people she felt she could trust with her son. The people that Minato had trusted the most. They promised her that Naruto would be safe and looked after.

But now here she was in Elemental Nations to check up on her son after all these years, hoping that he turned out just like his father and be one of the few or only male she would come to care about. She would be heartbroken if he turned out differently. Artemis slightly hoped that he would turn out like Obito if not like Minato, as annoying as he was, because Obito was at least tolerable in comparison to Jiraiya.

She jumped and ran with such grace and elegance as she leaped. She glanced over into the distance to see a giant parade of sort taking place at a village.

She sensed her son wasn't in Konoha so she tracked him down. He must be on a mission or training. That's what she thought.

However she saw a familiar looking child being held by the neck by a man in a spiral mask.

"I've won Naruto. I have no reason to wait three years for something I can do now."

She saw only red.

 **With Naruto moments earlier**

Naruto was away training from Konoha. In a stroke of luck, he and Jiraiya had come across Sasuke attacking Itachi.

Acting quickly, the toad summoning pair subdued the two Uchihas in an ambush and brought them to Konoha. Its been a week since then, and after tomorrow he and Jiraiya would be off once more as the threat of Akatsuki was still real.

Luckily Naruto and his handy dandy charisma was enough to knock enough sense into his best friend. And now the two were competing to be Hokage.

Or at least that's what they acted. Sasuke decided he wasn't worth the seat, and would willingly server Naruto above anyone else.

"It's nice out tonight" Naruto said to himself as he rested himself upon a tree. There was no one around so the area was pretty much baron. Everyone was at the festival, congregated into one part of the village which left everywhere else silent and unpopulated. Like this training ground.

Naruto looked up at the sky to see it was another clear night and the stars and the moon was shining brightly down from the night sky.

He didn't know why but ever since he was little whenever he looked up at the moon and the stars he felt this odd wave of relief and warmth spread through him.

Naruto shook his heads from his thoughts and got up, it wasn't too late so maybe he should visit Sasuke since he wasn't allowed outside yet.

 _Snap!_

Naruto was taken out of his musings and thoughts when he felt his right foot hit some kind of wire before he suddenly found himself wrapped in ninja wire, his arms and legs firmly pressed against his body.

"What the hell! Damn it" Naruto said aloud not believing he let his ninja sense dull like this. He had let his guard down as he stared into the night sky and it had just cost him.

"Well look what Tobi got here." a voice called making Naruto swing his head to see a man in the same uniform as Itachi.

"Did you really think the fox hunt was not going to happen just because you're at Konoha?" the man said coming up and giving Naruto a light slap across the face.

Naruto growled towards the bastard only to be punched in the gut.

"Temper temper." The man said waving a finger in front of Naruto in a very patronizing way.

"You do realise that what you're doing will never work. My friends will stop you from extracting the fox." Jiraiya had mentioned how long it would take to take out the fox since it was so big.

"Tobi must admit your village's security has become very poor but then again by the looks of things nobody was around for you."

"Bastard." Naruto muttered as he struggled against the ninja wire but found that he could not move a muscle.

"Tobi will make sure this is very painless. Or not." And hit Naruto in the face hard once.

The moon in the sky began to glow brightly with a reddish tint in it startling Tobi who looked at it. The wind began to pick up and the clouds in the sky began to part away from the village and around him.

'I don't sense anyone!" he thought.

But that's when it happened. Out of nowhere a hooded figure appeared in front of him and knocked him away from Naruto. However what startled him was the intense glowing silver eyes that sent shivers down even his spine.

"Get away from my son."

As quick as lightning a bow found its way into her hands and she fired two arrows directly at Tobi. The arrows had divine power put in them and thus he never had the chance to use his Kamui technique. She recognized the man from the one that stopped her husband from being able to safely seal the Kyuubi and thus held nothing back.

She quickly made her bow disappeared before getting out a hunting knife and ran towards her son and began cutting the ninja wire. It only took a couple of seconds since celestial bronze was one of the strongest metals around and could cut through almost anything.

When the ninja wire came off Naruto's beaten body he began to fall to the earth before the goddess caught him and lowered his body down softly to the ground and placed his head in her lap.

She looked him over seeing all the damage on his body along with old scars that made ice once again flow through her body and tears cascade down her cheeks.

"My baby I'm so sorry. This should have never happened at all. I should have taken you with me like I wanted. Damn you father and damn the ancient rules." she said. Unsure if he was hurt, she slightly fed him some ambrosia and nectar.

She had watched over her son whenever she could. Luckily the gods of this world allowed her some reprieve in being able to watch but not contact Naruto. In fact the reason she was there was because they said it was now okay for her to bring him to her world.

She didn't care too much about what she would do. The Akatsuki were too dangerous to let her son remain here. She would simply have to send a message to Tsunade and Jiraiya later.

 **Next Day- New York City**

Naruto groaned while his eyes began to flutter open and he found himself staring at a ceiling that he did not recognise. Normally it would be white ceiling that belonged to a hospital but yet it wasn't. He knew he was not in his apartment because the bed he was in felt unfamiliar.

Groggily and shakily he sat up and looked around. He looked around and did not recognise the place he was in. It was a nice room with a set of draws and cupboard sat against the wall that was made of oak. There was a TV on a night stand in front of him and a balcony terrace next to the window.

As he sat there he began to piece back together what had happened the night before. He was tied up in ninja wire by the man in the mask and knocked out.

Naruto eyes widened when some words echoed though him.

" _Get away from my son."_

"Mom." he whispered us as he whipped his head all around the room but there was no sign of her which caused his head to drop as he began to wonder if he imagined it.

However he caught the site of letter that was on top of the set of draws and Naruto groggily stood up and walked over. He unravelled the letter and began to read what it said.

 _Dear Naruto_

 _I'm sorry that I could not stay with you until you woke up but I'm afraid you cannot see me until the time is right. First let me tell you that I am your mother. I'm sorry that I could not be with you while you grew up but our circumstances ensured that I was unable to take care of you. You will soon come to understand why. Just please believe that I loved you very much._

 _As you know your father's name was Minato Namikaze, the Fourth Hokage and the love of my life. He loved you with all his heart despite only ever being able to hold you in his arms the one time. When he died it broke my heart but nothing has ever been more difficult than having to leave you behind. I had asked people that I thought I could trust to watch over you and raise you in my place._

 _As you know the Akatsuki are after you. For your own safety I have brought you to my world. I know it may be difficult to adjust but you will come to love your new home and I know you will make friends very soon. I have enrolled you in the boarding school called Yancy Academy since you are still required to go to school in this world. I have left you some necessities and I must ask you don't use your shinobi powers out in the open. This world is a lot different to the Elemental Nations and therefore everyone is just a normal civilian that don't know about other worlds and special powers._

 _My world has many more languages than your own, you will find that English and Japanese and Greek to be the easiest for you to understand._

 _My son I know this is a lot to take in and I know you have questions but all I ask is that you be patient and all will be revealed in time. I love you with all my heart my baby boy and I will be watching over you always._

 _Love_

 _Your Mother_

 _P.S Read up on Greek Mythology. I guarantee it will come in handy in the future._

Naruto slowly put down the letter as some tear made their way down his cheek. They were not tears of pain but of joy. Sure he was a bit mad that his mother just ignored whatever opinion he had but he could have a talk with her about that later.

BUT HE HAD A MOM. A REAL, LOVING MOM FOR AMATERASU'S SAKE.

He placed the letter down on the top of the draws and opened one of them and saw the clothes. They were black and silver.

'Hmm pretty good. Might need to find some orange for it later.' he thought before he turned his attention to the other contents of the draws. In a plastic bag were rolls of green paper. He looks at it before figuring out it must have been the currency here.

Naruto knew that the best thing to do first was to look at the map. Jiraiya helped teach the importance of knowing your surroundings. l. He spread the map out on top of the bed and was amazed at the intricate details, luckily it had "YOU ARE HERE" with arrows. He then saw the giant book that said World History on the front in big bold letter.

Naruto was brought out of thought when he realized loud sounds were coming from outside. Deciding it was time to see this new world with his own eyes, he opened a pair of sliding doors and walked out onto the terrace. What he saw made his eyes widen like saucers.

There were magnificently large buildings that looked to touch the sky. He looked down towards the streets and saw dozens of vehicles.

"Who." was all Naruto could say as he stared at his surroundings. This was not a sight that you would see at home.

'Mom wouldn't have brought me here if she didn't think it was the right choice. Much as I hate it, if this is my mom's world I should get to know it. It will take time but I can get use to this place. Just one step at a time. Just remember to see if you can contact home first.' he thought.

"Ha. This is gonna be fun. Sasuke and Sakura aren't gonna believe this."


	2. Chapter 2

Title is different, obviously this is to make different books into different stories. This is to help me track my own progress easier.

The summary last time was pretty bad since I just wanted to get it over with. Anyways Naruto doesn't have a problem reading like the rest of the demigods. As said in the anime Naruto read the icha icha series so no point in changing that part of canon.

As far as things changing. I added the Shinto part for a reason and that's where the frightening enemy will come from on narutos side. Minatos heritage will be a small surprise as I liked the son of the huntress but I have a different things. So only artemis has broken her vow and that will bite her in the ass very very painfully.

Time skips will be elaborated but not if a few hours have passed and stuff. In this weeks and days will be noted but hours and minutes will not.

The reason im doing all my stories differently is to find the right style for me.

Also, I dislike how the monsters just poof into dust, so it will instead be a mix of blood and dust. this difference will be made to be a part of the plot, as one of the things changed by the discrepancy of Naruto. but Naruto himself didn't directly cause it.

Chapter start

Naruto sat on the steps in front of a museum building. He was wearing some plain jeans and a museum uniform.

Only a few months passed since he arrived in his mom's world. And blending in was more easier than he thought it would be.

Sometimes he'd slip back into his native language but since the Americans didn't know what he was saying they'd assume it was just Japanese.

Getting used to all the cars and technology was hard but he had experience with them because of the Land of Snow/Spring. And lots and lots of shadow clones.

He had taken to the dollar money rather well, and just like back home he was able to manage his finances easily. After all you don't live alone by yourself for over a decade and not know how to save money.

And his mother gave him so much money he would be able to survive for a year until he needed to begin worrying. But he decided that he would not just waste his money and so he gambled and worked jobs for more money.

Shadow clones were very much abused. They would go to jobs for him, go to school for him, and study for him. Luckily he was now able to suppress the individuality of the clones so not only were they less annoying, but also more efficient.

The day he turned 15 was the day he entered this world, and he was eligible to become a sophomore in high school.

He didn't want to take too many 'hard' classes since some of the stuff was beyond him currently. So he joined as many electives as he could.

At school he ended up becoming something of a popular kid, which he enjoyed greatly.

His usual attitude was accepted more easily in this school than the ninja academy. And due to Jiriaya's teachings he quickly found that many girls had crushes on him and a few of them were really hot for him.

He had dated a few of the girls here but he decided that he shouldn't get too attached to a girl he wouldn't spend his future with, but he would spend just enough time to figure out if she was the 'one'. As things were, whoever the 'one' is would have to be someone he could trust undeniably.

Unfortunately he learned that the English written language was not very easy to learn.

The words sometimes jumbled up but if he translated things to his written language-which was like Japan's- then it was more easily understood.

Luckily the school he was going to had programs for that sort of thing, but one day a pair of glasses appeared in his home and he learned that it would make the English language appear normal to him.

One day he was walking home from work when he saw two kids(well they were almost teens but Naruto digressed) about to throw down with a few high school thugs.

He interrupted the gathering and the thugs knew him immediately as he had a bit of a reputation against assholes.

So they ran and that's how he met Grover Underwood and Percy Jackson.

He got along rather well with the kids, and Grover seemed to look up to him extremely to all three males' confusion.

Naruto took it upon himself to help the kids as much as he could, teaching the kids in school subjects or even helping them payback bullies.

Naruto's senses showed that Grover smelled like a goat and nature while Percy strangely smelled like things related to the sea.

He shrugged it off as people often smelled like the things they hung around. It wasn't his business if Grover liked to spend time with goats.

Being friends with Percy had the boy happily introduce his older friend to his mom, Sally Jackson.

Naruto thought the woman was nice enough, if secretly cautious. Seeing who her husband is that was a given.

Naruto knew Percy couldn't understand why his mom stayed with the gluttonous bastard when it clearly wasn't love. Naruto never said anything about it and simply helped as much as he could, giving them money, helping them buy necessities if it was needed. Just anything to help. Percy's mom tended to try and refute but nobody refuses Naruto.

NOBODY.

The shinobi also happened to come across Percy's favorite teacher Mr. Brunner when he was tutoring the boys at their school.

While Naruto thought the man was nice, it wasn't hard for him to see that the man in the wheelchair was hiding something.

He never showed his suspicions though, a good shinobi should be able to hide his or her intentions whenever possible. It probably helped that the man was rather likable.

Anyways things weren't go bad for the blonde. Currently he was working at a museum as a tour guide of sorts as the museum itself was short on them.

He would be at school but an incident forced the school to close down for repairs. But that's a story for another time.

Seeing a school bus pull up, he stood as he prepared to guide around some kids.

The kids began to walk out and Naruto held back a smirk as he saw Mr. Brunner, Percy, and Grover.

"Come along everyone." Mr Brunner said as he managed to get himself out of the bus. "Stay together and don't wander off. Don't want you to get into any trouble now do we?" he said glancing over towards Percy. This made Naruto laugh a little as he knew that Percy could be a bit of a problem child.

Naruto walked up to them. "Welcome students to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Since you finally got here, why don't we get straight to the tour. Save all questions for the designated times." And so he began the tour. Leading them into the museum, he took notice that the other teacher with them was looking at Percy with complete and utter hatred though she hid it well enough.

As a shinobi he knew well enough how to spot hidden emotions. Jiraiya said it would help him discern his enemies' next move.

Not only that but she looked at him in slight confusion and cautiousness.

He was gonna have to keep an eye on her.

As he led them through the Greek section, Naruto knew that the kids were going to have a hard time keeping on track, so me made sure to explain things in a way to keep them interested. Using modern terms, making jokes of what happened, etc etc.

Eventually they were at the last destination which prompted Mr. Brunner to ask some questions.

Naruto decided to ignore the rest as he nodded to Mr. Brunner so he would know that he would be the one to dismiss themselves.

Naruto walked out past a wall and if one were to take a look past the wall they would see nothing.

Naruto was on the roof lying down looking up at the sky. He looked rather serene.

If there was one thing he hated about this world, it would be about how polluted it was. The stars in the sky at night were not as visible as they were in his world.

And he's seen the pictures. Forests destroyed, rivers with a bunch of shit in it. The way these people treat nature was appalling.

And granted, his world wasn't exactly kind to the environment but it would always return to its natural state sooner or later.

Naruto rolled back his arms with his eyes closed as he decided he rested for enough time from those immature kids.

Then Naruto heard and unnatural sound coming from the Greek Exhibit.

Having a bad feeling he hurried as he traveled on the roof. Making it there quickly he saw some freak creature and Percy.

"Where is it?" a deep scratchy voice called out. It had eyes as black as coal with a greyish body with sharp teeth and leathery like wings on its back.

"I won't ask again. Where is the lightning bolt?" The creature asked with Naruto taking a look towards Percy.

Suddenly a familiar man in a wheelchair appeared.

"Percy! What Ho!" He shouted as he threw an item to Percy Who caught the items. Percy and Naruto looked down to see what they caught and saw that he now had a pen in hands.

"What even is this!?" Percy shouted out. Percy not knowing what to do with the pen just decided to twist the cap to see if there was some sort of hidden weapon in the pen but immediately retracted his hand when the pen suddenly became a sword the length of his arm.

The two fought and when it looked like Percy was winning Naruto noticed that Mr. Bruner hightailed it out of there in relief.

Naruto thought he was giving Percy a bit too much credit.

Percy swung his sword around with his weight on it. So far the former Mrs. Dodds was able to avoid major blows. He accidentally broke a pot and cringed.

The monster teacher took this opportunity to strike at the distracted boy.

A gleam shined and something thin wrapped around the neck of Mrs. Dodds as she flew into it.

Naruto had his right arm up as he gripped some ninja wire. His body was relaxed and lanky.

"Can't say I feel too bad about doing this. His left hand widened at his side and blue thick chakra strings extended from his finger tips.

They went down pass the roof, pass some of the (stuff in museum) and wrapped around Mrs. Dodds freaky legs. The strings yanked down and the monster was now being choked and pulled apart from the two sets of strings.

Naruto didn't want to give her a chance to respond or for Percy to find out what was happening so he pulled his hands apart in two directions and yanked the monster into gold dust.

Percy blinked and cautiously observed his surroundings as he tried to back out. He needed to go find Naruto or Mr. Brunner. Hopefully someone would be able to help him understand this.

"PERCY!" He jumped when someone called out his name.

Naruto was walking out from the entrance to the Greek exhibit.

"Naruto!" He said relieved. He was glad the older boy was here.

"Woah man you won't believe what I just-" he was interrupted when Naruto covered his mouth.

Naruto gave a wink and elaborated. "Don't worry about anything alright? I get the museum can be a little freaky when your alone but there's nothing to worry about."

"Dude, what?" He went to the pen to show it to the older boy only to find it not there.

'What's going on?' Percy thought.

"C'mon kid, I'll lead you to the rest of your group, try not to leave Grover alone for too long okay? You know how he freaks." Naruto said completely normally.

Naruto had just one thing in mind now. "Hopefully I won't have to cancel any dates."

Fate was now in motion. Time to see how his Destiny would turn out.

It would be weeks later and Percy would still not know the answer to what happened in the museum. He would have a bad time in the those weeks.

Naruto himself on the other hand was having a damn good time in those weeks. Aside from dealing with a few discrepancies like Percy's life changing event and wanna be thugs, he was having a good time in this world.

Currently he was waiting in line in a nearby mall near his school. He was wearing an orange hoodie with its hood up with jeans ripped at the knees. The pretty girl at the counter was currently on the phone with someone.

Girls tended to say that the ripped clothes were attractive but he couldn't say he really cared. While a few ripped clothes he wouldn't care too much about, some were a different story.

And that is why he is at the mall. He was going to ask the clerk about some clothes that had been ruined.

The girl at the counter had finally gotten off the phone.

"Sorry about that, my little sister Lacy wanted to talk to me about something new that was happening around her camp." She smiled at him. From the looks of things the news was rather disheartening.

"Camp around this time of year?" He said.

"It's… an unusual camp no doubt. But I think you would fit in. A lot of my family goes there and they would all like you." Especially the girls, she thought.

"Maybe I'll see it soon." Naruto chuckled.

"Well… anyways here is your clothes." she handed him a bag. "You know, you have to be the one person who uses our service a lot. My mom would be pretty appalled to see how you treat your clothes."

Naruto replied, "I just get things torn up and broken a lot. I tend to lose myself in the moment you know? You know how it is with these things, one thing after another and you lose sight of stuff." He shrugged.

"Well then Mr. Lose yourself, I hope you don't mind if I take you out on a date one of these days. Must be pretty good if your clothes are always ripped." She _purred._

He laughed. "I don't mind keeping a spot open, but you are four years older than me you know. You really wanna risk it?"

She winked. "Mum'll help me out, if anything else she'll help and encourage me."

Slinging the bag over his shoulder he turned around, "Yeah well maybe I'll take you up on that one of these days." Or not. No offense to her but he would be far too busy to date or anything for the next few weeks. "Oh, and tell Silena that she better remember to text me over the break. And that she better not forget she owes me one for helping her out on some of those projects."

She waved with a smile until he was gone. She rested her head onto her right hand as she gazed at the younger male. "Lucky brat, can't believe my little sister was able to get a man before me. She really has grown up into a fine heartbreaker like mum wanted." She really wouldn't mind taking that body out for a ride. He may be younger but she can see his body.

Too bad she didn't know that he was actually a virgin and all that talk was in reference of something else.

Naruto walked into his apartment as he gathered some tools and charms into his backpack. He told the other residents beforehand to take care of his stuff for the summer as he was going to be out for the summer. He needed someone to take care of his plants.

Luckily the crazy cereal lady said she would be happy to take care of them. He could trust her to take care of them.

He began to reminisce about school, some of the friends he made were really cool and he thought about trusting them with his own secrets.

Silena, Harry, and Harry's girlfriend Elaine. Silena was younger than him while the other two were his _sempai_.

He had actually found out about the secret about the latter two when he saved them from this asshole who tried to mind control them or something.

They were extremely grateful to him and they said something about traveling the world over the break. He was happy for them. Their quips and quirks aside, Naruto really liked them. He had actually asked them about a few things they could do for him with their magic.

Silena was actually paired up with him in one of his music electives, and the freshman pretty girl was pretty compatible with the blonde ninja.

Like he said to her sister, he often helped her out on some projects she had trouble with. Mostly because she had dyslexia.

Seeing as she was one of the more popular girls in school despite being younger, this earned both of them many glares from people of both genders.

As the two were aware of this, Naruto often convinced her to go along with some of his plans to mess with other people.

Like when he helped her study for tests. _"Naruto you kept me up all night yesterday!" Insert cute pout here._

" _You were the one badgering me that you REALLY needed it yesterday. If you can't take it, don't ask for it."_

And many sexual related words often got the other students hot and bothered. And he did mean hot and bothered. He could smell it, unfortunately.

The group of four often took pleasure in messing with people, and seeing as he knew, the magic users told Silena about. She had taken it rather well and they all took joy in fucking with people as Naruto liked to get them in on his pranks.

Regardless, Naruto rubbed his neck as he closed the door. "This is all gonna be a pain in the ass ain't it?" The blonde ineloquently said.

"This is a real pain in the ass." Percy swore. He was currently running away from a giant bull that was chasing him. He ordinarily wouldn't swear if it wasn't for this situation.

Both his mother and Grover would have chastised him in a different situation. Sally was happy he picked up a great male role model like Naruto but the blonde's speaking habits were better off not emulated by anyone.

Percy was having a rather good day until now. He and his mom were away from Smelly Gabe and near a good portion of beautiful water.

Then things went all downhill.

His mom tripped, neither of the boys noticed until a few seconds.

"MOM!"

"Percy go! I'll distract it you follow Grover to the camp!" She shouted desperately. If only she wasn't so selfish her son wouldn't have to go through this tragedy. But she was sure her brave little boy would triumph.

Grover grabbed his best buds arm before he ran straight into the Minotaur. "C'mon man we need to beat it." He hated that he couldn't save her, but he needed to prioritize Percy.

"Damnit Grover let me go!" The monster was picking her up. "No mom!"

Then out of nowhere, an arrow struck through the arm of the beast, completely tearing it off.

Blood squirted away as it went over Sally and disappeared in gold. Its arm was also now dust.

It roared in pain and anger. Who would dare interrupt it like this!

Naruto emerged from the trees with a bow in his left arm. He was wearing the same clothes from hours before but was now soaked. A silver glove adorned his hands. Strangely enough he didn't have his hood up.

The dark environment nearly made him invisible, which was surprising since he was wearing orange. Or maybe not when you consider what he was able to do. The silver gloves, his bright hair, and his glowing blue eyes were the only thing to really give him away.

"That was too close, even a second later and she would be dust or something. But I guess its fine."

He closed his eyes and swept his hair back with his hand in a move that made girls wet and not just because his hair was soaked too. Opening his eyes he looked at his prey.

"In the end a hero always arrives at the last moment, but a hunter always arrives when it's just the right moment and not a second before or after."

Arming himself with an arrow, he got into position with the equipment noched.

Above the storm clouds, the moon shined brightly enough to pierce the clouds and illuminated Naruto and the small space around him only..

The bow he had ready was a jet black, Western-style weapon larger than his own height of five feet and five inches. The gold streaks on it glowed. Anyone could tell it was no ordinary bow.

And his arrow shined entirely golden.

He let go of the arrow.

 _((Author ending this, for visual purposes, cuz I cant say, the bow is the bow of atalanta from fate apocrypha. Look it up on her wiki.))_


	3. Chapter 3

**To explain some of the things in this chapter. Naruto calls Percy kid Cuz as someone in high school. Someone Percy's age(12) would pretty much be called kid as he sees Percy as small, young, less intelligent and less mature than himself. I speak that from experience. Action scenes will often be more described in closer detail after the scene already happened, this is based a little off of nature as some things you don't notice have happened until it's too late, connecting to the whole hunter and prey theme. I also took some inspiration from the tv series Arrow(in other words green arrow)**

 **CHAPTER START**

"In the end a hero always arrives at the last moment, but a hunter always arrives when it's just the right moment and not a second before or after."

Arming himself with an arrow, he got into position with the equipment notched.

Above the storm clouds, the moon shined brightly enough to pierce the clouds and illuminated Naruto and the small space around him only..

The bow he had ready was a jet black, Western-style weapon larger than his own height of five feet and five inches. The gold streaks on it glowed. Anyone could tell it was no ordinary bow.

And his arrow shined entirely golden.

He let go of the arrow.

The golden arrow shot past in a blur. None of those around were able to see the arrow. It was far too fast for them.

The Minotaur roared and rushed towards Naruto, Sally laid forgotten on the ground. It wanted the blood of the fool that dared harm it. It used its horn to knock away the arrow, chipping it off in the process.

Naruto gazed calmly at the now asymmetrical monster. He was still ready to shoot. His hand hadn't moved since he released the arrow. Closing his bright glowing eyes, Naruto walked backwards and it was as if the shadows drank him up.

The beast ran into the trees, knocking them down as he searched for the accursed demigod.

The three that had been attacked were stunned still. If it wasn't for Naruto, then Sally would have…

Percy had jumped out of his shock as he realized his mom was still on the ground. Without even a nod to Grover he rushed over to her and grabbed her arm. "Mom! C'mon we need to get out of here before it comes for us!" He may have no idea what was going on, but he did know one thing.

Naruto was giving him a chance to save his mother.

Grover tapped his arm before grabbing Sally's other arm. "C'mon Ms. J! We can't waste any time!" Grover didn't want to let anyone die on his watch. Not again. Never again.

They pulled her up and ran. Percy followed Grover's lead. In his panic he still failed to notice Grover's legs.

"Alright the camp is over here. Percy we need to find Chiron- I mean, Mr. Brunner." Grover said loudly as he corrected himself so Percy understood what they needed to do. They should be within yelling distance now.

"CHIRON!"

"HELP US!"

They yelled and a man, a horse, a man that was also a horse ran-or galloped- to them. A bunch of people in orange shirts followed.

"Grover? Percy?" Percy recognized this being as Mr. Brunner. Feeling that he could still trust his teacher he explained quickly.

"Naruto…..monster…..forest…." He was out of breath as the adrenaline slightly wore off more and more.

Luckily Grover was still able to explain a little further, but it wasn't necessary.

"Campers! Stay on guard!" Chiron shouted at the campers as they readied themselves and followed the centaurs lead.

"Grover, we have to do something, we can't just leave Naruto out there alone when he saved us."

"Percy that's practically suicide!" Grover was visibly conflicted. He obviously felt the same way but practically speaking, it wasn't a very smart idea.

Sally could see their conflict, and while she was worried for them, she didn't feel right leaving Naruto to himself when he saved them.

"Boys, you saw those campers, lets follow, but we can't get in their way. Understand?" She told them. They nodded their heads quickly.

It didn't take long to catch up. They were all following a trail of destroyed trees. All were wary as they heard a monstrous roar.

Quickly, Chiron took out a bow and left towards the sound. He hoped that he could get to who he thought was a nice young man. The demigods, mother, and satyr followed behind.

What they saw was a sight completely amazing.

The Minotaur was down on its knees. There were arrows sticking out from all over its body. Its sole remaining horn was close to falling off at a moment's notice. It was now missing its other arm too. Disgusting and Foul looking blood leaked from its wounds.

The campers warily surrounded the beast, weapons drawn and ready.

Chiron did nothing, he merely stared, as if he could see something the rest couldn't.

Then suddenly, all but Chiron jumped as an arrow the size of a small tree pierced through the chest of the Son of Pasiphae.

They looked into the direction where it came from, the slow disappearance of the Minotaur was in the background. A blonde whose eyes were covered by his wet hair walked out with a bow on his back and a horn in his hand. He walked forward and the campers in his way split.

The Minotaur looked and growled at him. Then out of nowhere its hunter grabbed its remaining horn, snapped it off and smashed his leg into the face of his prey. Dust was now in place of the huge monster.

With the full disappearance of the monster, Chiron allowed himself to relax more. He was sure there was little danger now. He stared at the slayer of the Minotaur. It looked like Percy's and Grover's friend Naruto. No. It was him.

"Chiron." So he knew who he truly was. Chiron wondered how long he knew the secret and why he didn't tell Percy.

Percy wobbled up to his older friend. "Naruto what are you doing here? Shouldn't you be back at New York or something?"

Two of the campers stiffened at the name.

"Or something Percy."

Before Percy could question any further the adrenaline rush wore off and he fainted.

He didn't drop to the floor though. Seeing as he was leaning on Grover, he sorta ended up just 'plopping" against him.

Grover showed just why they were best friends though, as he continued what Percy would have asked at a fast pace.

Naruto placed his hand against Grover's mouth to shut him up. "Now isn't the time Grover. We can talk more after a nights rest. Coming here wasn't an easy thing for me to do."

Chiron saw that this was his chance to enter. "Greetings Naruto. Allow me to say I feel inclined to agree with you. Grover, come with me to bring Percy and his mother to the infirmary. Naruto, one of the campers will be able to lead you to your cabin."

Then one of the campers walked up looking at Naruto. "I can do it Chiron." Naruto began staring back.

"Ah, thank you Silena."

The two stared at each other intently. It was an awkward situation to everyone around so they began to walk away.

Naruto did the hunter-ish thing to do and made the first move.

"Hey."

Unfortunately for him, this seemed to backfire. "Hey? HEY! Is that really all you have to say to me right now? Naruto I just saw you take down a Minotaur. What is going on? You never mentioned anything about not being a normal human?"

Naruto was beginning to feel a little bad. Silena was rather mad at his secret. The rain began to slightly cover her face with her wet hair. But the girl sighed and slightly moved her hair from her eyes. "S-sorry Naruto. I guess I was just freaking out a little. But why didn't you ever mention what you were? I told Harry and Elaine about me when they told us they were magicians."

Naruto scratched his head and the both of them began to walk away. "Well in my defense, I assumed that telling you that all your best friends weren't normal wasn't a good idea if you were just a normal pretty girl."

"Aren't you a flirt."

"I try."

"Alright then girl-getter, try to keep up." She began running to the camp laughing a little.

"A head start ain't gonna help Ya win!" He laughed following her. She liked to surprise him with little competitions trying to get him to have a little fun.

Sometimes they made little bets on their competitions, nothing serious. It was all in good fun.

For those that witnessed them playing around, they wondered how the two could get along so well despite learning something rather life changing about each other. Ordinarily learning a secret of this level was either a make or break for friendships. But the two teenagers were good friends. And their traits made it easier to get used to such a secret.

Silena was a loving, friendly girl. She understood that being friends with someone, no rather being best friends with someone meant being able to accept that persons secrets. Just because Naruto wasn't only what he showed himself to be didn't mean he changed. And for Naruto, he was just good at accepting people. As a Jinchuuriki, he had a habit of not judging people too harshly. It would take something truly horrendous for Naruto to forsake someone. And Silena really was an ordinary teenage girl in his mind. Sorta.

At the very least she wasn't an evil ninja or something trying to kill him for some goal, that was enough for him to trust her.

The two chased each other throughout the camp. This was Silena's way of showing Naruto the camp since a normal tour would be too boring for him. The fact that it was fun was just a side bonus.

The fun had to end eventually though.

The two best friends stopped in front of a cabin where Naruto had seen a lot of people enter. The dark did little to hide those details from him.

"I'll talk to Chiron about sparing you from that tutorial introduction on all things Greek. Guess I know why you always liked myths, and now it isn't just music and art that we share rather intensely. The Hermes Cabin will house you until your godly parent claims you...if not, then I'm sure I can convince Mother to let you sleep with our cabin. This cabin is rather-"

"Crowded? Ya I saw how many people entered."

He was sure she smiled despite not being able to see it.

"Well I'm glad I didn't have to wait a whole summer to see you again. I'll come get you in the morning okay?"

"Sure."

And they parted ways to rest for the night.

Naruto's eyes opened confused. He had just fallen asleep and woke up to what was probably a hazy and vivid dream. This must be the fabled demigod dream vision stuff.

"The shinobi has reached the camp M'lord."

"Hrrrr. That accursed mortal will be troublesome, that I do not doubt. Already he has been unknowingly interfering with our plans."

"If you allow me to have another spy in the camp besides myself I'm sure we can take care of him. I can charm some of the girls-"

"Stop boy. Do not think so highly of yourself. The boy's charisma far outstrips your own pathetic excuse of charisma. You must trick or coerce others to following you, the boy needs none of that."

"Arrrgh." The one that was clearly the underling growled under his breath.

"Let us alter the plans to the boy's presence. He remains unclaimed to the world still, that will make things easier for me."

Then his eyes opened once more to see the inside of the cabin he slept in. That dream was disconcerting but there were other things to think about at the present moment. It wasn't as if he could do anything with the information from the dream anyways.

He looked at his surroundings and saw that the few campers inside were staring at him. He figured the rest had already woken up and went to do...whatever it is they do.

He got himself ready to leave, ignoring the stares the campers were giving him. The stares weren't malicious of any kind so he let it go, and he was a little curious as to why they were staring. In his mind he hadn't done anything worth attention yet. Honestly only Naruto could somehow remain obvious that it was due to his actions beforehand. Or perhaps he simply preferred to be oblivious to the reason.

Walking past the door Naruto saw that Silena was already waiting for him.

With the sun out and about, he was able to get a good look of her. Silena was a girl with long black hair with strawberry blonde highlight streaks that would probably be dyed a different color later (she had the tendency to change the streaks colors cause of Naruto). She had blue eyes and a soft face that was ready to break hearts-or rather, a soft face that has broken many hearts of both genders. She was wearing an orange shirt and some short jeans that looked just right on her.

"Hey there BFF number 2." She greeted him first.

"I still say I should be number one rather than two." He said in good nature.

"Nope. Sorry but Elaine gets that spot. She is my fellow girl after all."

"I figure as much. So what's on the agenda today Highlights, today your my senior."

Silena began to twirl her hair. "Weeeell. I already showed you the camp yesterday in our little game, so I suppose I'll show you around to the activities we have. That should take up some time till around dinner I guess."

Naruto gestured with his arm. "Lead the way."

She began to walk off with him in tow, wondering what she should show him first. His skill with the Bow and Arrow made her think of the Archery Field as first on the schedule. At the same time she wondered if she should go to the obstacle courses and arena so he could show off his physical ability. The armory could also get his attention with his obsession over weapons. The Grass Fields and stables would no doubt catch his attention due to his green thumb and great connection with animals.

She figured that efficiency wise, going in a circle would be best if she decided to ignore any schedule. She couldn't technically get in trouble with Chiron since he did ask her to show her best friend around. So that meant moving from the cabins to the Arena, the Armory, the Fields, the Stables, and then from the stables they could fly around. Along the way they could do any activity he wanted to do for fun. The right side of the camp can wait until later as there is less stuff there. As far as she was concerned that can be done quickly before they gather up for his 'first' day.

"Okay so how do you feel about this plan...?" She told him her thoughts.

He shrugged. "Sure." He would go with whatever she thought was right.

And thus Naruto's first day began.

ARENA

Naruto watched over slightly uninterested as the campers fought each other.

They were complete amateurs. Rookies going through the stances. They would probably panic in a real fight. There was no intent behind these swords. But maybe he was being a bit too harsh. They were merely practicing after all.

"I know that look on your face. You aren't the slightest bit impressed are you?" Came from his side. Silena was once more twirling her hair as he removed his eyes from the campers to her.

Naruto scoffed. "I could take most of them down without breaking a sweat. Talk about disappointing."

Silena giggled. "C'mon don't you think your being a bit too harsh on them? I'm sure you can have some type of fun fighting them."

Naruto turned around and leaned back on the railing. "If you want to redeem them in my eyes then you better point out a worthy opponent for me."

Silena stopped twirling her hair and pointed over the railing. "Foooound one."

Moving only his head he saw a girl Silena's age. She had brown hair and eyes, and was tall and was only average looking in terms of cute looks, though that was probably due to the slight tones of muscle. All in all she looked like a rough girl that was ready to throw a punch. She reminded him of one of those pretty female athletes or fighters.

Still pointing at the girl in armor, Silena began the introductions. "This is Clarisse. She's a child of Ares. She's also one of the best fighters in the camp. If you want a challenge, then look no further!"

Clarisse looked at him rather warningly. "You're the one from yesterday aren't you? The one that took down the Son of Pasiphae." It sounded less of a question and more of a statement.

"Ya. What of it. You don't look too mad about it."

"As if I'd be mad about it. But anyone that has the skill to take that monster down is definitely worthy of my respect. If you're looking for a challenge, then why not give me a try?" The girl twirled the spear in her hand.

Naruto didn't need to give too much thought to it. A fight sounded like fun.

He leaned back over the railing and landed on his feet. He took something out of his pocket and transformed it. He transformed it again and it became a sword with a music note on the hilt.

"Okay then. I'm up for a fight. Don't bother holding back. I enjoy challenges."

The two went to the center, where all other fights stopped in anticipation.

Clarisse dropped her spear for a sword. The two circled around. Neither made a move just yet. Naruto was waiting for her to lose her patience and attack first. He would watch carefully after her first attack in order to gauge her ability.

The daughter of war eventually snarled. "If we're gonna fight then fight!" She lunged at him.

The girl slashed downward first. Naruto smiled as he stepped backward just enough for the sword to miss. It slammed into the ground and he could feel the impact slightly. It was obvious that Clarisse put all her strength into that blow. Now he knew what he was dealing with.

Clarisse made the mistake of swinging downward to him once more when she recovered. Instead of stepping back like last time, he swung the sword up from a low angle with his dominate right hand. The swords clashed and Clarisse's sword rebounded to the side. Smoothly, Naruto spun to the right following the momentum of the sword clash to make a diagonal cut from the upper left corner. The girl tried blocking and succeeded.

The swords stayed connected for several seconds, with Clarisse seemingly struggling because her sword and arm were shaking. Naruto stepped forward, but did not push back. His face was now close to the swords and he said, "This isn't all you got is it? Unless you're main skills do not lie in the sword, but the spear. From what I've seen, that spear was no normal one. That hints me to where your true skill lies."

"We'll see whose skill lies where!" His opponent shouted. She pulled her sword back and slammed it onto Naruto's several times. Pushing him back, she began to forgo slashing and went to piercing. She stabbed at him several times, sometimes he dodged them, other times he used his sword to push her sword aside slightly.

"You got fire in you y'know that? But fire alone ain't enough in this world." He sidestepped her stab and he moved to her, at a range where her arms fully extended would ensure that the sword would not cut him. He locked her extended arm around his left, turning around so his back was touching her body, he pushed back and pulled forward at the same time. This resulted in flipping Clarisse forward.

"Oof!" She landed harshly on the ground. She opened her eyes and saw Naruto looking down at her upside down with his sword at her face.

"Not bad. Don't take it the wrong way, you probably weren't expecting me to do that. Try to learn from your mistakes in this battle. Don't overextend, don't put all your power, and don't let your enemy enclose you. Later." He walked away to Silena who was the only one clapping. The rest were a little shocked and didn't think to clap. "Hey Highlights! Where's our next stop?" She smiled and led him away.

ARMORY

The armory, in his opinion, was nothing special. There was nothing special in his opinion. If Silena noticed that it looked like he was searching for something, she didn't say anything about it. He did meet a dude from the Hephaestus Cabin that seemed to agree that some of the weapons and armor were rather average.

He was sure they would be great friends. Now if only he could remember the dude's name.

FIELDS

Naruto looked at the Strawberry Fields with a small smile. The two walked around and looked at all the food and flowers growing.

Naruto thought everything looked rather nice. He wondered if he would be allowed to help out though. He didn't want his green thumb to go to waste.

"Oh, you're the new guy that saved Grover and the other two right?" A new voice that wasn't Silena's broke his thoughts.

It was a petite brunette girl with green eyes. She looked about 13 or so. Naruto wasn't too sure.

"Sup. Names Naruto. and yes, it is foreign." He introduced himself.

"Guess you get that question a lot huh? I take it Silena's giving you a proper tour this time?" She said, referring to last night where they mostly just played around.

The two nodded but Silena rolled her eyes. "Naruto, this is Katie Gardner. She's a daughter of Demeter."

"Well, Katie, nice to meet you. Do you think it would be okay if I help out around the fields? I'd hate to let my green thumb get rusty."

Katie thought about it. "Well, I suppose it would be okay. Most of the time campers leave it to those who are more connected to gods that can help grow the plants. ADHD doesn't leave much room for the other Half-Bloods to have the patience to grow plants."

Naruto smiled at that. He felt like he and Katie were gonna get along just fine.

STABLES

Naruto and Silena walked in to see a great deal of horses….with wings.

"Well Naruto these are our Pegasi. Bunch of beauties aren't they." She showed them off to Naruto. "If it just so happens that you don't know how to ride a Pegasus, then I won't mind teaching you one on one if you do some of my summer homework." She winked playfully. She would teach it to him regardless if he really didn't know.

"Well let's start now." He said before walking toward a white Pegasus.

"AH- wait…." She trailed off.

Naruto was petting the Pegasus. Her words made both human and animal look at her.

"That's Snow, he's known for being…unruly around others. I don't think I've seen a single camper actually ride him." She shook her head and went to her own Pegasus. She figured that since it was Naruto it would be a waste to remain shocked. She probably shouldn't be surprised that he befriended the less friendliest Pegasus.

"This here is Cakes. She's my favorite and pretty much my own personal mount so to speak. Now let's see if you can keep up with me. Try not to get lost." She laughed and led Naruto to the sky.

The two would be out riding for some time, unsurprisingly. The time passed by quickly with them soaring and having fun.

Eventually there time came to an end. Leading the horses back, they had come across an interesting sight on their way to the cabins. Clarisse, the same girl Naruto fought earlier, was now wet from some sort of water. And the smell Naruto picked up told him it wasn't from the lake or river. The daughter of war looked pissed, on the flip side was the guy that was not only dry but nervous and scared. Percy Jackson was ready to piss his own pants right now.

"What's going on here?" Naruto decided to step in before any fights could break out.

Percy hurriedly explained how he was being forced into the bathroom for "initiation" by the cabin of War.

Naruto noticed that Clarisse and her siblings left with sore faces as he listened to Percy.

"By the way, Percy where's your mom?" Naruto asked. He had forgotten about the woman. And he didn't feel like talking about what happened.

Percy looked at Naruto and said something that sorta shocked him. Apparently his mom had left him behind with a note to stay put and be good. And also to make sure to change his underwear, that actually made Naruto laugh a bit.

Meanwhile Annabeth was getting rather sick of Percy and what she thought to be his stupidity and his brooding over his mom leaving, so she asked if Silena and Naruto wanted to come with her to help out.

Silena seemed off put by the suggestion, and was saved the need to reply when Naruto said that he was going to explore the woods with Silena.

A few hours passed and dinner came. Percy and Naruto were waiting with the rest of Cabin Eleven.

Then the counselor, Luke, came over. The handsome face was marred that scar on his right cheek, but his smile was intact. "Found you a sleeping bag," he said. "And here, I stole you some stuff from the camp store."

Percy rose an eyebrow, not sure if he was telling the truth about the stealing part. "Thanks."

"No prob." Luke sat next to him, pushed his back against the wall. "Tough first day? Though, unlike you, Naruto seems to be making himself at home."

"Naruto is good with adjusting to weird situations, probably cuz he's older and popular. And it kind of looked like he already knew all of this stuff already." Percy chuckled sadly. "Me, I don't belong here, I mean, I don't even believe in the gods like everyone else. I just want to be home with my mom."

"Yeah," Luke said. "That's how we all start. And once you start believing in them, it doesn't get any easier. But I am curious as to the kind of life Naruto lived if he can adjust so easily. Taking down the the monster from yesterday is an impressive feat." Percy shrugged, not knowing the answer.

"So…your dad is Hermes?"

He pulled a switchblade out of his back pocket, and for a second Percy was scared he was going to gut him, but he just scraped the mud off the sole of his sandal. "Yeah. Hermes."

"The wing-footed messenger guy." Percy asked, skeptical.

"That's him. Messengers. Medicine. Travelers, merchants, thieves. Anybody who uses the roads. That's why you're here, enjoying cabin eleven's hospitality. Hermes isn't all that picky about who he sponsors."

"You ever meet your dad?" I asked.

"Once." Luke said but didn't seem to say more on that subject.

"So, I guess he claims all his kids." Percy said.

"Pretty much, but I was kind of wondering if Naruto was one of us. Apparently not as he has not been claimed yet," He said amused as Naruto had somehow jacked the shirt of another camper without them realizing. "Hermes is one of the gods that don't hesitate to claim their children. Hephaestus and many of the other minor gods are the same. Aphrodite won't claim a kid if they don't meet her standards of beauty and rumor has it that Apollo won't claim all his kids cuz he forgets he even sired them."

Luke gave a chuckle at Percy's worried face. "Don't worry about it, Percy. The campers here, they're mostly good people. After all, we're extended family, right? We take care of each other."

Heh, sounds like Naruto. He usually helped me and Grover this year in school." Percy chuckled. He was glad he had friend like Naruto, Grover, and now the people here at camp. He then asked something that has been bugging him.

"Clarisse, from Ares, was joking about me being 'Big Three' material. Then Annabeth ... twice, she said I might be 'the one.' She said I should talk to the Oracle. What was that all about?"

Luke folded his knife. "I hate prophecies."

"What do you mean?"

Luke's face twitched around the scar. "Let's just say I messed things up for everybody else. The last two years, ever since my trip to the Garden of the Hesperides went sour, Chiron hasn't allowed any more quests. Annabeth's been dying to get out into the world. She pestered Chiron so much he finally told her he already knew her fate. He'd had a prophecy from the Oracle. He wouldn't tell her the whole thing, but he said Annabeth wasn't destined to go on a quest yet. She had to wait until... somebody special came to the camp."

"Somebody special? You mean like me or more specifically, Naruto?" Percy asked.

"Don't worry about it, kid," Luke said. "Annabeth wants to think every new camper who comes through here is the omen she's been waiting for. Now, come on, it's dinnertime." The moment he said it, a horn blew in the distance.

Luke yelled, "Eleven, fall in!" The whole cabin, about twenty or so of kids, filed into the commons yard. They lined up in order of seniority, so of course Percy and Naruto were dead last, though Naruto didn't seem to mind when Percy grumbled about it. Campers came from the other cabins, too, except for the three empty cabins at the end, and cabin eight, which had looked normal in the daytime, but was now starting to glow silver as the sun went down.

They marched up the hill to the mess hall pavilion. Satyrs joined the group from the meadow. Naiads emerged from the canoeing lake. A few other girls came out of the woods, literally. In all, there were maybe a hundred campers, a few dozen satyrs, and a dozen assorted wood nymphs and naiads.

At the pavilion, torches blazed around the marble columns. A central fire burned in a bronze brazier the size of a bathtub. Each cabin had its own table, covered in white cloth trimmed in purple. Four of the tables were empty, but cabin eleven's was way overcrowded. Percy had to squeeze on to the edge of a bench with half his butt hanging off. Naruto was smart and stole the seat of someone not paying attention and made a seat for himself, shocking a few people, who wondered how he did it.

The boys saw Grover sitting at table twelve with Mr. D, a few satyrs, and a couple of plump blond boys who looked just like Mr. D. Chiron stood to one side, the picnic table being way too small for a centaur. That made Naruto laugh some.

Annabeth sat at table six with a bunch of serious-looking athletic kids, all with her gray eyes and honey-blond hair.

Clarisse sat behind them at Ares's table. She'd apparently gotten over being hosed down and then blow dried, because she was laughing right alongside her friends.

Finally, Chiron pounded his hoof against the marble floor of the pavilion, and everybody fell silent. He raised a glass. "To the gods!"

Everybody else raised their glasses. "To the gods!" Naruto being Naruto, said it loudly along with the rest of them while Percy did it weakly, still trying to get use to this madness.

Percy needed to be coached along on what to do but Naruto seemed as if he knew that the plates and drinks could be anything as well as to sacrifice portions to the gods. Luckily for Percy he would be given an easier time eating dinner when a pretty girl walked up to Naruto. "Hey BF #2, come over to eat at Aphrodite's table. I already asked my mom and she won't mind." What was left unsaid was that her mother was VERY interested in the boy that was so popular and cool. Naruto was somewhat known between daughters of Aphrodite seeing as he coincidentally met many of them that lived outside of camp. The clerk girl that helped repair his clothes was one of them.

"If you say so Highlights." Percy and some of cabin eleven's kids couldn't resist a small jealous look as Naruto was fawned over by the pretty girls at where he was sitting. Wood Nymphs and Naiads had also come over to fawn over him too. It became apparent that among the females he was very popular. Percy had somewhat expected this since back in New York he had always known how women reacted to him.

The night would end with Naruto quickly becoming the enemy of all Man. And the next few days would quickly result where the campers either liked or disliked Naruto. Most of the females and males liked him, and those that actually disliked him were few in number.

Naruto didn't think too much of the next few days. Nothing really stood out to him except for a few moments. Silena agrees with him on that. Part of the reason she risked the outside world was the boredom and undeviating schedule that the camp raised in her. It became a good decision seeing as it allowed her to meet Naruto. Silena thought the best moments in the past few days were...

Naruto's First Archery Lesson

Chiron took that lesson and had the campers line up in front of the targets. There were enough targets for everyone to have one each. Naruto hadn't taken a target until later.

While Naruto managed through the lesson without problems Percy was another story.

Within a minute he managed to get the bow string hooked on his necklace around his neck and then chipped the edge of the bow while trying to get it off.

When eventually he managed to get it free he took a deep breath and follow Chiron's instruction. It was quickly apparent that Percy had no skill whatsoever with the bow.

Wanting to stop Percy's hazardous shooting, Chiron had noticed Naruto relaxing on a tree branch dozens of feet up high and used that as an excuse, "Naruto, I know that you may have some skill in the Bow but I believe you should come here to practice. The Wood Nymph in that tree won't be happy that you are there." Chiron quickly saw how wrong he was as a change of posture showed that the wood nymph was talking with Naruto, and was now angry at the interruption.

Naruto frowned and jumped down and easily landed on his feet shocking everyone. He told everyone to get away from their targets and walked further back then them. Luckily only Percy had tried shooting an arrow so all targets were still pristine and unused.

Naruto brought out the bow used against the Minotaur, and had a quiver on his back filled with normal looking arrows like everyone else. He got into a stance and had an atmosphere over him that showed that he was no beginner.

He scanned the blank targets for a second and suddenly within 10 seconds, every target was hit by a bullseye.

Everyone's eyes were wide and their jaws dropped. Naruto ignored them and went back to his spot.

After that lesson word quickly spread at how great Naruto turned out to be with a bow which gave him a lot of attention from the Apollo cabin.

A member from the Apollo cabin Lee Fletcher congratulated Naruto on his skills and told him he was welcomed to train with the Apollo cabin whenever he liked since the camp doesn't get that many prodigies in archery other than those in the Apollo. Naruto had gotten along with all of Apollo's kids as he had archery skills and also singing skills like them.

The next memory was when everyone was down at the beach. Since it was a warm day Chiron thought it would be a good idea to have everyone cool down canoe racing and swimming.

On the shore everyone from campy were on the beach either watching the race or in the daughters of Aphrodite's case lounging on the sand sun bathing in their bikini's and staring at Naruto.

Far ahead in front was Percy who seemed to be in his element. Whether it was swimming, diving, or now canoeing. He clearly had an advantage. The Apollo and Dionysus cabin who were literally just paddling around in circles. Near Percy was Naruto, who while looking annoyed seemed to be putting in slight effort to keep up.

Percy's face was elated that he finally had something he could show everyone he was good at. While canoeing would not have been his first choice it was still a good feeling to be first at something for once. Naruto told him to always be happy with what you were gifted at and if you weren't, to put hard work into being good at it.

"That's it I'm doing this my way" Naruto said and then stood up taking off his shirt. Canoeing was too boring for him. As a Shinobi and a hunter, there were better options than canoeing. So he dived into the water and swam quickly and majestically. Percy had seen what he was doing and laughed as other campers followed his lead as they didn't want to embarrass themselves any longer.

Once finished he and Percy then walked towards the beach and Naruto raised an eyebrow when he saw many of the girls from all different cabins have a predator like look or a blush on their face. It was then that he remembered he was not wearing a shirt and quickly took off to put one on causing a groan of disappointment from said girls. Naruto wasn't too embarrassed by their looks but he wasn't very arrogant or pompous and decided to go put one on.

Naruto physique had also shocked everyone, because it was a very attractive body they scanned it and they saw the big fist sized scare on his chest that was a few inches above his heart. Annabeth was studying the scar with wide eyes trying to figure out what type of weapon could make such a scar. Even Clarisse who had finally finished and was walking back saw the scar and winced at the sight of it. Silena looked pissed off as if wondering who would dare harm her friend like that.

Many were left wondering how he received it and more importantly how on earth he managed to survive an injury like that. They wanted to go and ask Naruto about it but a stern look from Mr. D and Chiron told them to leave it be.

After that many of the campers had questions but would never get an answer from him. His scar was becoming a fast topic amongst the campers, mainly the Ares cabin who had told him what a badass scar it was. Clarisse told him also that anyone who could survive a scar like that and keep on fighting was okay in her books. The two got along well together despite their earlier spar.

What may have been the next moment was when Naruto and Silena decided to mess with her cabin by pretending to have sex in it. (Italicized story where they listen and come into to the cabin.)

Their reminiscing was interrupted by Chiron telling them it was time for Capture the Flag. They were annoyed as Silena would prefer hanging with Naruto rather than beat heads while Naruto didn't find any fun or challenge in the campers. Few seemed to raise any real reaction from him in a fight.

The blue team was comprised off the Athena Cabin, the Hermes cabin and the Apollo cabin. By the looks of things their team had the best archers, the brains and the sneaky tactics. That and they knew with Naruto they had an advantage since he actually had real life experience in battle. The Hermes and Apollo cabin were the two biggest cabins and therefore made up for the numbers on each team.

Then on the red team were all the other cabins which was made up off the Aphrodite, Demeter, Hephaestus, Dionysus and the Ares cabin. With those cabins they had defiantly had the most physical fighter if the size of most of the Ares and Hephaestus cabin was anything to go by. However from what Annabeth told him about the cabins The Aphrodite cabin would mostly sit out and watch along with some of the Demeter cabin. There were only two in the Dionysus cabin and four in the Hephaestus cabin. This mainly meant that the main obstacle would be the Ares kids who were led by Clarisse.

Right now Percy had left to go and talk to Grover trying to calm his nerves for the game later tonight while Annabeth and Naruto were walking in the opposite direction side by side. Since Silena was on the other side he decided to waste time talking with the girl Percy liked to complain about.

"So I take it you have a plan kid?" Naruto asked Annabeth as they walked towards the small HQ the blue team had set up with the Athena cabin supplying maps of the area that they would be fighting in. He saw many of Annabeth's brothers and sisters huddle around maps trying to decide which was the best method of taking the red teams flag while a group from the Hermes cabin were discussing what traps they should lay for the other team.

"Of course." She replied back with a grin on her face. "Athena always has a plan."

"Well that's reassuring, but that also didn't answer the question." He said getting a playful slap on the arm from Annabeth. The two headed into the small set up camp and walked over to Luke who was sitting by himself practising with a small knife in his hand.

"Hey Annabeth, Naruto. You ready for later Naruto? It's yours and Percy's big debut into capture the flag." He said grinning.

"I've been itching for something exciting since I got here."

"Well I'm sure we won't disappoint. It can get pretty lively but thankfully we haven't had any casualties. Well not for few years anyway." Annabeth deadpanned get small sweat drops appear behind Naruto and Luke's head.

Annabeth then laid out a similar map that the other Athena group was looking at and she and Luke began discussing how to go about getting to the flag. They both knew that Clarisse would no doubt be their biggest obstacle. Then they mentioned another boy they called Beckendorf who was a member of the Hephaestus cabin and apparently was the next big threat towards them due to have both the muscle and brains.

"We can't make any full proof plans until we actually start the game. We have to find a way to discover who is in which group. Who is defending and who is attacking."

Luke nodded whilst Naruto over heard what they said and a big grin made its way to his face.

"If intelligence gathering is what you need then I'm the man for the job." He said getting odd looks from everyone. "These past few days I've been familiarizing myself with the forest. I know it better than the rest of you since I can tell none of you really spend time in it. Not only that but I have experience in traveling up high in the trees. None of you could possibly beat me racing through the tree branches." It was a bit of an understatement seeing as running through the trees as a shinobi was a lot faster than what any of them could even dream of. And that's why he was perfect. In a single leap he could jump one branch and past a dozen trees without even trying.

"It would take me a minute or two at most. Trust me your woods aren't that big compared to the ones back home." Yet another understatement. Konoha had trees the size of some buildings. Seeing that they didn't know what to think he showed them what was normal for a shinobi to do. He jumped from his spot to the tree branch(which was more that a few dozen feet) and from where he landed ran on the edge of the forests branches showing what he meant by being the fastest there. They also had to wonder how big his forests were.

"Luke do you know what this mean?" Annabeth said. "When the hunters come over Naruto will be our trump card. We might finally beat them." She said with excitement getting confused looks from Naruto. "The hunters are a group of all girl warriors under the command of Artemis. They visit from time to time and when they do we always have a capture the flag match against them. The hunters have won the last fifty five times."

"Huh." Getting your ass kicked that many times could not have been easy and no doubt hit everyone's pride. "You guys suck ass." Everyone grabbed their chests and comically turned white as he hit their pride again.

Annabeth's tried defending themselves. "Despite us having the home advantage the hunters fight and survive in the forests. That and they know teamwork and are trained by Lady Artemis herself. Their all immortal due to being bound to Lady Artemis and therefore they fight monsters for a living and many have decades or even century's worth of experience. It just isn't that much of a contest when you consider the fact that most of us don't regularly encounter monsters."

Naruto whistled. Deadly was the only thing he could think off that described the hunters. The way Annabeth described them they sounded like a well-oiled machine. Plus being trained by a goddess would no doubt have its perks.

But when Naruto looked over at Luke he noticed Luke had a dark look on his face when Annabeth mentioned the hunters. No doubt Luke must have had a run in with them in the past and it did not go to well.

Whilst Annabeth began talking with her siblings Luke took Naruto to where the weapons and armor was being kept.

"This is yours." He said picking up some bronze colored armor that covered his chest and stomach but left the shoulders and arms bare.

Naruto didn't bother looking at it. "No thanks. I got my own set but I just don't wear armor on principle anyways." Given how strong he was it wouldn't really slow him down. But it was unnecessary. Luke shrugged as he accepted his word.

He walked out and headed back over to the cabins. As he made his way back he got waves and hellos from those from the other cabins, even ones that were not on his team.

"Naruto." a voice called getting his attention and smiled when he saw Katie skipping over to him once again with a basket in her hand.

"Hey there Katie. Now should you really be talking to me since we are on the opposite teams." He said teasingly getting a bright smile form Katie.

"It's okay, I'm not playing. Not really my thing so I just watch with some of the other Demeter girls and the Aphrodite cabin."

Naruto nodded in understanding. "We'll make sure to keep an eye out okay? I figure I might as well put on show for you girls."

His new friend giggled. "Was planning on that already. Anyways I better get going, gotta deliver some stuff."

"Later." Unfortunately, Naruto hadn't come up with a nick name for her just yet.

Naruto looked around him and shrugged. Might as well go nap in a tree for now.

Soon the day became the evening and the time for the capture the flag game was near. After dinner a loud horn called out through the camp and Chiron stood at the front of the pavilion everyone telling them that the game would soon begin. Everyone stood around theirs tables and the plates magically disappeared and were replaced with equipment.

First came the blue team flag which had Annabeth and two of her siblings running in with a ten foot banner. It was made of silk and was glistening gray, with a painting of an owl above an olive tree. All in all it was a very beautiful banner.

Then came the red team flag which was being led in by Clarisse along with two of her siblings. Their banner was the same in length except it was blood red that was painted with a bloody spear and a boar's head. Gory was the thought running through Naruto's head when he saw it.

Everyone began cheering when the flags came in and many of the taunting was beginning again just like earlier in the day.

Naruto looked over to see Percy struggling to put his armor on so he helped the younger boy into them.

"Thanks." He said before his hand traced over the armor. "It's really heavy. Do we have to wear these?" He asked.

"It's either wear that or get yourself killed Percy." Luke said appearing next to him.

"Heres your helmet." The scarred boy said handing over a helmet with the blue horse hair plume on top.

"Great." The water boy said taking it from Luke's hand and putting it on. He couldn't help but feel silly wearing it. He looked at Naruto and saw he wasn't wearing one. "Where's yours?" He questioned why his older friend was wearing the same thing from when he defeated the Minotaur. He had his bow out on his back.

"If you think I'm going to be wearing one of those helmets then you have another thing coming kid." He said getting a chuckle from Luke and a deadpan look from Percy.

It was then that Chiron hammered his hoof on the marble floor drawing everyone's attention to him.

"Heroes!" He announced. "You know the rules. The creek is the boundary line. The entire forest is fair game. All magic items are allowed. The teams banner must be prominently displayed, and have no more than two guards. Prisoners may be disarmed, but may not be bound or gagged. No killing or maiming is allowed."

Naruto heard a lot of groaning and mumbling from that and noticed it was mostly the Ares cabin that said it. He also noticed that Clarisse and a few of her sibling were glaring right at Percy with smirks on their faces. He knew that was not a good sign.

Naruto then heard Chiron mention that he would be the field medic and wished everyone good luck in the game before everyone marched off to their side of the forest. The blue team had the south side of the forest while the red team had the north side.

He smiled. They might not make much of a challenge, but that didn't mean that he couldn't have little fun during this game now did it.

Naruto stood with Annabeth and Luke as the horn signaling for the game to begin sounded out through the forest. Naruto had learnt that Percy had been given patrol duty over at one of the creeks. Annabeth figured since Clarisse was going after him, if he was out of the way it would draw her away from the main fighting.

While Naruto agreed he didn't like the thought of Percy having to fight Clarisse and some of her siblings alone so he told Annabeth once he finished the scouting and relayed the information to her he would go and watch over Percy and help him with Clarisse and the other Ares kids.

As soon as the horn went off Annabeth gave Naruto the nod. Naruto nodded back before he disappeared and a blur went into the woods.

It seemed like forever but after a minute Naruto shot out of the trees and landed next the Annabeth. "Okay there are four different groups. One group is going down the left side of the forest. They're being led by Forge-er- I mean Charles. Another team of the same amount is going to come from the right side. It looks like they're going to try and sandwich us when they get to the flag. The third is a small group going to Percy at the borders between teams and the final is the leftovers watching the flag." He finished in one breath. An intelligence gatherer should be able to say what needed to be said quickly.

Everyone was amazed. "Naruto this is amazing. Thank the gods you're on our team." Annabeth said giving him a quick grateful look before she began formulating plans and separating people into groups to combat the opposing groups.

One group that was going to be led by Annabeth's brother Malcolm would go against Beckendorf and his group to the left of the forest. Connor and Travis from the Hermes cabin would lead another group against the group from the right while Annabeth and Luke would lead a battalion against the forces around the flag. Naruto himself would use his superior body and do some hit and run against everyone while making sure Percy stayed alive.

Throughout the game Iris decided to focus on highlights. Seeing as Naruto was half the excitement in the game she split the iris call in two. One screen on Naruto and another on whatever excitement happening in the game.

The second screen shifted between the multiple groups as none had yet to come into contact. This was partially due to Naruto who ran interference to let his comrades get the sneak attack over the other team. He ran between all the groups, making them paranoid from the sound of his high speed movement. Rather than shoot arrows against them, he threw pebbles and pine cones at their legs and arms. This forced them to drop low to grab their weapons or drop low because of the sudden pain in their legs. He eventually showed himself to be the one attacking when he swung from a branch like a monkey to knock over Beckendorf with his leg since the Son of the Blacksmith was withstanding his little annoyances easier than the others. Not wasting a moment, he used his other leg to kick off against the same body he kicked which sent him back up to the trees.

"Oh crap its him!" Naruto smirked. The fear was kicking in now that they knew what was happening. Good. That fear would keep most of them from thinking straight and seeing what would happen next. Those that stayed calm like Beckendorf didn't have the leadership ability to keep the panicked in line.

Naruto appeared near the only group he left untouched. The ones that guarded the flag. They had some freaked out looks on their faces since they could hear all the screams coming from the forest. Naruto looked up and to the right as a rather old and sharp branch seemed to have come to him because of the wind, although there was no actual wind. He talked to this tree's dryad before the game started and asked her if he could take a branch. She had giggled and said sure.

He brandished the branch on his bow, and held the bow slightly diagonal to the right and took aim. He calmly took a deep breath and let go. The makeshift arrow sailed through the air as if it was real.

"Hyagh!" His target fell over as he was struck in the gut.

"Whoa! Chris you alright! Hey keep watch!" He recognized the camper that ran towards his target as one of Ares. "What's sticking out of him?" They noticed it. "Wait, is this...a...branch?"

That was his cue. He loaded his bow once more. And then set up his targets.

"Watch out!"

From the forest shot out multiple arrows at them. Two fell, while the rest received scratches and bruises. "What the? Are they shooting branches at us? How'd they get the dryads to let them use the trees?"

"Don't just stand there! Shields up!" One of them was smart enough to stay alert as he thought they were under attack by a large group given the amount of arrows-well, branches- that were shot at them. Smart idea since more were shot at them, this time however, little spheres were attached to them.

Wood hit metal, and metal won. But this was expected. Suddenly they felt an explosion with their shields. When they opened their eyes, they were pink and orange. Anyone would have laughed at how silly they look.

The fact that they were the ones that would be made fun of angered them. "Gah! Where are they!" The enemy campers rushed into the forest looking for someone to beat down. Seeing them pass under him and further to the forest, he smiled and blurred away.

Luke and some of his cabin mates were waiting patiently. They were supposed to wait for Naruto to get the defenders of the other side away to the forest. They heard shaking above them and looked up. Naruto had his hood up and had his arm on the tree. A nod and smirk told them everything. The blonde disappeared again.

He uncaringly traveled through the forest. He passed by Malcolm and the Twins' groups as he went to the riverside. His teammates confronted the enemy teams and due to his actions, had the advantage. Knowing he wasn't necessarily needed he decided to head to the creek where Percy was.

When he got there, his eyebrows raised as it looked like Percy was making them work for their objective. Apparently those self-defense lessons he gave to Percy for Smelly Gabe came in handy. The kid looked absolutely ridiculous with the oversized sword and shield in his hands and the blue plume helmet on his head. Despite that, he was doing well fighting back against people a few years older than him.

Naruto jumped in and landed in front of Percy. Grabbing the large shield he tossed it Captain America style and it knocked a boy in the head. "Picking on a boy 3 years younger than you? You must feel pretty proud of yourself. Now how do you deal with someone stronger you." Naruto teased them with the insinuation that he was stronger than them. And by insinuation he meant fact.

He saw their eyes literally begin to turn a little red in anger. Only Clarisse seemed normal despite being angry. But that might be because he kicked her ass once before.

"Let's see here... There's five of you, and I have five arrows left. I could restock right now. Bu-t I think I'll take it easy. I won't need to use all of them against you guys." He said the word you dismissively which seemed to anger them more.

Percy looked worried even though he thought Naruto was being funny. "Is it really that good of an idea to piss them off more? I don't have my shield anymore either."

"Watch and learn from the master kid. These guys are cannon fodder compared to what I've faced." Naruto walked forward bow in hand.

Clarisse laughed. "Do you really think you can beat us without a sword? The bow is no melee weapon." The siblings all laughed. Only to stop when Naruto laughed too.

"If you sound so confident, then why are you down to four without me shooting an arrow?"

"Wha-"

He zoomed forward and caught the camper that was at the side of the group off guard. As Naruto ran he jumped up and slammed his knee into his face. The camper stumbled backward and when Naruto landed on his feet he took his bow and slammed it into the knee cap. Spinning around he hit the back of the camper pushing the body forward. Grabbing the hook of his neck Naruto pulled back and the camper fell backwards rather than forwards. Just as the head was about to come into contact with the ground a harsh thud echoed as Naruto hammered down with the bow.

The color red had appeared on his face with a sickening crunch that rang out from the initial collision of Naruto's knee and his face. The camper was noticeably dizzy but that didn't stop Naruto from holding back. Harsh impact sounds came from the hits and in the span of a few seconds one of Clarisse's siblings was down for the count before anyone could act.

They were stunned. It took them a few seconds after the deed to comprehend what happened as they weren't used to that fast paced fighting when it didn't include Luke. The fact that it happened with the bow caught them unprepared.

Naruto walked in the middle to where they made a little square around him. He placed a single arrow in his bow but didn't go further than that. He held it pointing to the ground.

"Hyaa!" Two of them rushed forward and went for the overhead slash. Naruto used his bow to block both swords. He ducked under the bow and went up so he was standing side by side with the two attackers. He used his right leg to kick their knees forcing them down. He back flipped away when Clarisse lunged to stop him.

Naruto pulled back the arrow and placed it into his mouth like a rose. He thought it would only become a liability should they keep attacking in groups as they did. It was the smart thing for them to do really.

The Ares camper that he didn't attack yet came to him shield first. Seeing how the camper was running Naruto made the decision to jump up and bring his feet together in a crouch position just before the camper slammed the shield into him. At the same time he brought the arrow from his mouth to the bow.

A ringing sound came out when his feet and the shield came into contact and the moment it did he kicked forward and the shield was sent upward as the camper stumbled. He let the arrow loose and it took the camper down with an arrow sticking out of his chest.

Landing on his feet he said one thing. "One arrow, two campers. Still think you'll have an easy time?"

He watched as the siblings nodded to each other and with Clarisse in the middle, she was the first to rush. He dodged her and did a sideflip over the next slash one of her brothers did. He kicked the third sibling with his right leg as he landed on his left leg. In a smooth movement he loaded his bow and shot the second attacker in the back within a second. "Two arrows, two campers."

He looked back and blocked a slash. He kicked away the sword of Clarisse as she stabbed at him. He grabbed the arm holding the sword of the person behind him. Pulling the male camper over his back he threw him at Clarisse who dodged. Unfortunately for them the camper simply collided with the one he shot in the back. They both fell down and Clarisse couldn't resist looking back at what happened. Realizing her mistake she brought her shield up which ended up being a good idea as Naruto's bow clubbed the shield hard.

He hit again and again and pushed Clarisse back further and further.

"Gah!" Clarisse was too preoccupied blocking his blows and didn't realize that she was being forced closer to her sibling's downed bodies. She tripped backwards and stumbled trying to stay up. He kicked one of the bodies to her and grabbed the arrow sticking out of the back of the other. Her shield was forced upwards due to the body and Naruto ran before he jumped up, landed on the shield, and then jumped straight up.

Naruto saw the world in slow motion as he soared upwards from his jump. He flipped backwards in slow motion as he notched his bow and took aim. He fired and his arrow slashed her shield arm forcing it to drop down in pain. He landed behind her and kicked her lower back forcing her to the ground.

But before he could finish her he was thrown into a bear hug from behind. The camper he shot in the chest got up and was admirably trying to do something for his team and siblings. Clarisse quickly took the chance her sibling was giving her and went to cut Naruto's bow holding arm.

"Shoulda grabbed my legs!" Naruto grunted as he flexibly grabbed the taller boys neck. His body slipped through the grip due to the sudden cut of circulation and with a hurricanrana he threw the boy slamming him into Clarisse. Getting up quickly he clubbed the boy down for good and decided it was time to finish Clarisse.

Clarisse groaned as she sloppily got up. She felt incredulous of the new guys skill. He was clearly tougher than anyone else in the camp. His ability to use the bow at melee combat and at ranged was better than all of the Apollo Cabin. The way he fought was ferocious, yet she had a feeling that he was just playing around. When she got to her senses she realized that Naruto was coming at her and braced herself for the ensuring finisher. She knew when she was beat.

Naruto used his bow to hit Clarisse's body and limbs and did simple jabs against her face. Simple but painful. Five seconds of his relentless combo and he did a spinning back kick which hit her face and spun her around. Using his bow he brought it against her throat and threw her behind him. She landed on her back and he loaded his bow as he stood above her.

Luckily for Clarisse a horn rang out which signaled the end of the game. She looked over and saw Luke being carried by his team. Her head landed on the ground as she groaned. A hand came into her line of vision and noticed Naruto had his hand out to her to help her up.

"Nothing personal right?" He smiled.

She scoffed as she took his hand. "No pain no gain right blondie?" And with all the pain she got right now she probably gained a lot.

Chiron came out of nowhere and announced the end of the game. "BLUE TEAM WINS!" All the campers began to converge together. Red team looked noticeably solemn while Blue team looked as if they just won the lottery for life.

Annabeth and Percy came up to Naruto. "Dude that was awesome!" and "That was some incredible fighting." Was said to him by the younger kids.

When the two noticed what the other said they began to argue as Percy was angry that he was the 'sacrificial pawn'. Eventually both had taken note that Percy's injuries and bruises were fading away. Naruto's eyes caught nigh-invisible slivers of water crawling up the boy's body and healing it.

"Oh Styx." Annabeth cursed.

"What?" Percy got confused before he was pulled out of the water as he collapsed onto Naruto who caught him.

A flash of light appeared and over Percy was a symbol. A trident. They gasped and a pained look appeared in Chiron's eyes. One that only Naruto could see. "He has been claimed." His voice was also grave. And Mr. D who stood next to him seemed impossible to read.

Percy remained confused. "Perseus Jackson, Son of Poseidon. The Earthshaker and the Stormbringer. All hail the Son of the Sea God." They all began to kneel except for Naruto who looked at the forest.

He began to take aim while some noticed what he was doing. Chiron couldn't let what he was doing go as it may anger Poseidon. "Naruto what are-" He was cut off by growling and he got out his own bow as he recognized it.

The campers flinched backwards as five Hellhounds emerged from the forest. An arrow turned one into dust as it pierced the tree. They looked to see that Naruto running towards another Hellhound. He spun and clubbed the neck making a sickening crunch. Still spinning he grabbed its tail and threw it towards the hellhound that lunged at him. He pierced them both into the same tree the first arrow pierced.

He grabbed his last arrow from the quiver, rather than take aim with his bow he put the bow away and started to spin the arrow in his right hand. He ducked over the paw of the fourth hellhound and slashed its side with the arrow. He jumped up and landed on the fifth hound and stabbed its neck. It turned to dust and he landed with his feet slightly spread out.

The last remaining hellhound and Naruto locked eyes before charging. The two bodies collided and were thrown together into a tree, viciously ramming it. A large amount of smoke and a loud growl emerged.

The campers readied themselves in case the monster came out on top.

They needn't have worried. "Lower your arms." Chiron ordered them. He saw what happened in the span of two seconds and knew there was no need to worry.

When the smoke cleared it was the hellhound pierced to the tree with three arrows and it whimpered loudly as it slowly turned to dust.

"Wha-what happened?" someone said. Chiron explained in a low voice.

What had happened was that right before the two came into contact Naruto rammed the last arrow into its body and threw them both to the tree where his other two arrows landed. With a great show of strength Naruto pushed the monster into the arrows and stuck it to a tree. All in the span of a few seconds.

"More trophies huh…" Naruto whispered.

And before anyone could react it happened.

Another light, just as the one over Percy appeared over Naruto who was grabbing his trophies.

"Naruto you're being claimed!" shouted Silena who had shoved her way through the crowd the moment the game ended.

As the symbol appeared clearly, Naruto and everyone else looked at it. The 'everyone else' part widened their eyes while Naruto looked as if he was expecting it.

"N-N-Naruto Uzumaki. Son of A-Artemis. Pôtnia Therôn and the Selasphoros. All hail the Son of the Huntress."

 _Chapter end_

 _Pôtnia Therôn and the Selasphoros- Queen of Beasts and the Light-Bringer_


	4. Chapter 4

AHLT 4

The moment hellhounds appeared they were on guard and wary. Despite that they couldn't react to this danger in front of them. They weren't given the chance to. Naruto had systematically and skillfully killed them himself. "More trophies huh…" Naruto whispered to himself. He picked up the slightly bloodied fangs and fur pelts.

And before anyone could react it happened.

Another light, just like the one over Percy, appeared over Naruto who was busy grabbing his trophies.

"Naruto you're being claimed!" shouted Silena who had shoved her way through the crowd the moment the game ended.

As the symbol appeared clearly, Naruto and everyone else looked at it. The 'everyone else' part widened their eyes while Naruto looked as if he was expecting it.

"N-N-Naruto Uzumaki. Son of A-Artemis. Pôtnia Therôn and the Selasphoros. All hail the Son of the Huntress."

Everyone had reacted differently to this revelation.

Annabeth felt her legs nearly give way. It was... impossible, incredulous. The idea that Naruto, who had incredible skills and was pretty popular with the girls, was actually the son of Artemis was, in some ways, easy to see, and in other ways impossible to see. She felt worried for him as well. Thalia was HARSHLY PUNISHED so to speak merely by being Zeus's child when he broke his vows. What would happen to Naruto? The only thing that she could see that would help Naruto would be if Artemis made him the same way Athena made her own children. Thus keeping her vow intact.

Chiron looked at Naruto slightly solemnly. This made many things make sense. His bow skill, his affinity to animals, why the spirits and satyrs liked him so much for no reason. Naruto was an existence that should not exist and yet he does. Chiron knew for a fact that another like Naruto would never again be seen. Artemis would never let herself become like the other gods and goddesses. Even more surprising than the fact she had a child was that it was a son of all things. While Artemis may not have killed the boy she would have likely never claimed him. But the fact that she did showed that she likely loved the boy more than most of her family.

SIlena smiled at Naruto. She knew that Naruto was an orphan, and while she only recently discovered his connection to her world, she was happy that he had quickly been claimed by his parent. Sure, it was weird that Lady Artemis of all goddesses was his parent. But in the end, it was because of love wasn't it? Love was what made Naruto, and that alone would ensure everything would be alright in her mind. Love was a powerful and beautiful thing. She believed it would protect Naruto. After all, if Lady Artemis didn't love him, then he wouldn't have been claimed or even be at the camp.

Percy was likely the only one who had no idea what was going on. He didn't quite understand the significance of Naruto's existence. The boy barely understood the meaning of his own heritage. The only thing he knew was that his role model was now claimed by his parent, and that was enough to make him happy.

Naruto looked up from his spot to see the other campers just standing there gaping at him as if thinking that there must have been some kind of a mistake. Many were still in disbelief.

They thought that the goddess must have messed up and accidentally claimed him but Chiron quickly silenced them, telling them that there is never any mistake when it comes to claiming. It simply wasn't possible. The gods may not always acknowledge their blood, but when they do they are not wrong.

Mr D. had left shortly afterwards no doubt to let the other gods know what happened and to inform his father Zeus.

Many were also shocked at Percy being the son of Poseidon. It had been years since there had been a demi god child from one of he big three and many knew that Percy's presence was unfortunately an omen. A bad sign as it meant that Poseidon has also broken the pact made between the three brothers to not have demi god children any more.

Naruto's heritage on the other hand was more of a mysterious sign. Artemis broke her vows and had Naruto, but what would come from it? She may have broken the vows but at the same time she imposed them upon herself of her own free will, not only that but she truly adhered to it unlike the Big Three for example. But breaking vows was serious business. And they wondered why it was that Artemis claimed him.

Meanwhile, one thing Naruto noticed was that a few girls were looking at him with wanting eyes. Clearly they were less affected by the reveal of his mother and more caring of the fact that he wasn't related to them somehow. Though he thought that some of them would still chase after him anyway.

Not that he would blame them.

Regardless, nothing would be happening tonight, so it was best to rest until morning.

Unfortunately, his morning came quicker than he thought. His dream of ramen wasn't as long as it usually was, so that showed him that he wasn't going to have time to relax anytime soon.

Exiting his cabin be realized two things. One, the campers were gaping at him. Probably from the fact that he, a male, spent a night in the cabin of a woman hating goddess, and two, that said cabin was beautiful. It was silver, but did not shine brightly as it was daytime now. Paintings and carvings of animals decorated the cabin.

And luckily, it seemed that his apparent mother had deemed it necessary to make a room in the back of cabin, likely because him sleeping in one of the beds would have made the huntresses mad.

"Naruto." Silena called appearing next to him getting a smile from the blonde.

"How was your first night in the new cabin? Since you're alive and haven't been turned into an animal I guess it went alright." she said making Naruto playfully roll his eyes.

"It was great actually. Best nights sleep I've had in a long time, maybe even ever. Nice big king sized bed all for me. " He said grinning to himself while Silena pouted.

"No fair. Why do you get the big bed and everyone else doesn't." She said playfully elbowing Naruto when he started rubbing it in.

"It's amazing. To think you are the Son of Artemis. I never imagined she would fall in love. From what my mom and the legends said it seemed like she would always be on her own with her hunters swearing off love. I guess love comes to you when you least expect it, even to those who don't believe in it."

"You've met your mom?" He said a little surprised and got a nod from Silena.

"I, Annabeth, Luke, Clarisse and a few others got to go to Olympus for the Winter Solstice. Remember how I was really happy when I got back from winter break? That's why. We saw all the gods and I got to spend a little bit of time with my mom. She was just like I expected. Very girly and boy obsessed but she was also very beautiful and she cares deeply for her children even if she has so many."

"You clearly inherited the beauty part." Naruto said before he wanted to ask an important question. "In that case have you've seen my mom right?"

His friend thought it was cute that he wanted to know more about his mom. She was almost reminded of a small puppy begging for a bone or a hug.

"I never meet her personally since I heard she doesn't like Aphrodite's children, but I did see her. She had long auburn hair and had silver eyes. She also looked very stern but beautiful. She was the most naturally beautiful and I don't think she wore any make up unlike many of the other goddesses."

Silena slowed down at the end to gaze into Naruto's eyes. His naturally blue eyes seemed to be even more brighter than usual. She would even say that they were shining. And it seemed that at certain angles his eyes had moons in them. Looking at the lower back of his hair, it seemed to smoothen out to his back and was easily a contrast to the rest of his hair which, while actually being soft, was spiky.

She got out a small black band and gave it to him. "Here, you might want to tie the back if it annoys you too much. I figure you aren't used to it since your hair is sticking up most of the time."

He raised an eyebrow and thought it over. "Meh, guess it couldn't hurt." If he looked in a mirror, than he would see that sticking downwards was a smaller version of the spiky pineapple ponytail that other shinobi from Konoha had. It would take a lot of chakra, but he inwardly noted that if he used the needle hair technique Jiraiya taught him, it would now be useable. He was never able to use it even though he was taught it pretty early on.

The needle hair technique was something that should only be used if the user had a ponytail, because even if the hair extended and hardened to the point of steel, their was always the chance of the user not being able to reverse the process or of a powerful fire technique being used. So the technique was best used with a ponytail in order for an easier reversal and on the possibility that the user has to cut off their hair-they can just cut off the ponytail.

Luckily his orange hoodie covered it up so even if it was girly,which it wasn't, it wouldn't be seen.

"I like the new look. It suits you." She smiled.

"Makes me feel more unique. I guess this proud feeling of looking unique is what you feel since you decided to dye your beautiful hair right?" He mentioned, commenting on her currently violet hair streaks.

"Careful heart breaker, I might fall in love."

The two entered the pavilion and went to sit at their respected tables. He felt a little lonely sitting on his own.

He also saw Percy sitting on his own at the cabin three tables eating his breakfast. The green eyed boy looked like he had a rough night. Bad dreams maybe.

He looked around and saw everyone avoiding Percy and looking at him and the younger boy with uneasy looks. Even Clarisse looked a little off went she passed behind him.

He sighed, he thought he was done with that treatment when he was out of Konoha, though the level of fear or maliciousness was nowhere near that level.

They also looked at him but it was like they were just trying to figure him out since he was the first ever child of Artemis. Ares kinds were strong and reckless, Athena children were nerds, Aphrodite children were beautiful or handsome, Hermes kids were jacks of all trades or thieves, Hephaestus kids liked to play Legos in real life and so on. So no doubt they were figuring out what benefits he had.

"How did you sleep?" Naruto said appearing next to the son of Poseidon. He needed to take care of the kid for Sally.

"Not too bad. Little weird being all on my own though. Just when I thought I was beginning to fit with this place I get sent to a cabin all by myself." Percy was beginning to feel a bit like an outcast like in school.

Naruto patted his back. "Cheer up. Things will get better soon. At least now you know who your dad is and that you don't have to sleep in a cramped place anymore." Naruto said trying to cheer him up.

Percy realised he was right and smiled.

The two weren't in the mood to eat much while being stared at and so they left.

As the two walked thunder boomed in the distance and both boys saw thunder clouds in the sky. Grover had told them that bad weather never found its way into the camp boundaries but yet here they both saw the clouds thundering over the camp and the ocean getting wild with wave getting as high as ten metres in the air.

They were both interrupted from their thoughts as their local satyr friend made his way over to them.

"Hey Perce!" Grove called getting both boys attention. "Chiron wants to see you in his office."

Percy was confused and looked at Naruto for advice on instinct.

Realizing this, Naruto nodded his head brotherly. "Get goin' Percy. I'm off for a little training."

The two left and Naruto went to the forest to practice. He wasn't in the mood to deal with the weird attitudes of the campers and they couldn't help out much anyways.

Luckily the forest dwellers were more than happy to let him practice. So he trained himself in severals ways. He didn't want to damage the trees so instead he simply worked his body as much as he could. Pull ups, push ups, hanging upside down on the branches and bringing his body up, swinging from branches with a hand literally tied behind his back and climbing trees with both his hands tied(without using chakra of course, that would be cheating), and also training to eliminate his presence and concealment.

In other words, at the moment he was training more as a hunter than a Shinobi. Though certain shinobi elements were there in their own way. First, he followed Jiraiya's teachings by putting on the gravity beads, and then Bushy Brow Sensei's by putting on weight. Those in combination of his workouts made it challenging.

Second, he made a small group of clones that transformed into arrows, with one clone shooting them at him. This made him work faster and was also meant to train his detection and dodging skills, it even had the benefit of training his presence concealment and sneak attacking.

The last was that he trained in chakra control, he gathered fallen old leaves and some new leaves that the tree nymphs were willing to give, and stuck them to his body. Because some were old and not new, they weren't able to hold much chakra. And the new ones, while being able to hold more chakra, were also hard to conduct since it was pure chakra control rather than trying to manipulate the leaves for something like cutting it in half or burning them. All in all it creates a delicate process where he needed to learn to instinctively control his chakra, which was a lot easier since his chakra control training had started since he first left Konoha with Jiraiya.

Inwardly he wished he could practice the rasengan but he didn't want to risk making the tree nymphs mad at him. He also didn't want to accidentally kill them.

Luckily, he was able to train without interruption for a few hours. He usually didn't train that long ever since he entered the new world, but figured that it wouldn't hurt since its been sometime since he could train in a forest and also since he had less to do.

It was probably an hour or two after lunch when he decided he trained enough.

He went back and was seen by the campers exiting the forest sweaty and with dirt on him. He had a towel around his neck that he was also using to wipe his forehead.

"AH! There you are!" Naruto looked over to the yell and saw Silena and the slightly younger Annabeth running to him.

"We've been looking for you, where have you been?" Annabeth said tiredly.

"Training." He answered simply.

"Listen we need you to follow us, but why don't you clean up first." Silena said wrinkling her small nose.

He shrugged and left to his cabin for a quick shower. When he exited he wore a simple orange sleeveless shirt and pants.

From there, Annabeth and Silena lead him over to Chiron in the Big House. Chiron had a dark and slightly confused face. Percy was there with a creeped out and confused face.

"So what is it exactly that requires me?"

Chiron went on to explain that currently, there was a feud between Zeus and Poseidon, because the formers weapon was stolen, and the latter was accused of stealing it.

Naruto sighed, he wondered how exactly the most important weapon from the supposed King of Gods was stolen.

"That's a big problem and all, but unless you're asking me to kick their asses into gear, I don't get why you called for me."

Chiron took a deep breath. "Lord Zeus is in belief that Percy had stolen the bolt for his father, despite the fact that Grover and I have argued its impossibility. He is simply unwilling to accept any other solution. And as unfortunate as it was, I was going to ask Percy to go with two others to go on a quest, only for there to be a problem." He trailed off.

Naruto could see several problems. One was that they were sending Percy to steal back an important weapon from someone that was no doubt dangerous. The second was that Percy had no training. And the third was that Percy was a CIVILIAN 12 YEAR OLD BOY!

Chiron recognized the look in Naruto's eyes as the same one Artemis had when someone was unintentionally pressing her buttons. Deciding that he didn't want to see if they had the same temper, he explained to Naruto.

"I sent Percy to the oracle in order for him to get a prophecy, thus officially giving him a quest and also a guideline of what he needed to do..."

Naruto raised his eyebrow as Chiron was stalling.

"...But the oracle didn't react to him."

"And that concerns me how exactly?" What was Naruto supposed to do, make a plan for Percy?

"I am in belief that the quest to take back the Lightning Bolt is not for Percy, but for you..." Chiron also left out the fact that he felt more comfortable sending the older and clearly more experienced Naruto out on a quest rather than the newbie Percy, but they could all tell that was another reason.

Naruto decided not to waste time. "Where's the oracle." Silena pointed it for him.

"Be back soon."

He entered the storage where the oracle was held and also saw a bunch of weird or cool artifacts that he noted to ask later if he could take them.

Stopping and staring at some creepy ass thing in the back, he had no doubt it was the oracle simply for that fact.

Then it opened its mouth and he resisted the urge to cringe.

It spewed its prophecy and Naruto resisted the urge to spew his guts from the unnaturalness of the corpse.

He eventually exited and saw that they were waiting for him.

"So...got the quest, and currently a sick stomach." They thought it was from the prophecy, but it was more from the feeling he got from the corpse. It just felt wrong. Not to mention it was basically a freaky ghost zombie thing.


	5. Chapter 5

AHLT 5

All of the campers mentioned in the story are real, but I did take some liberties seeing as most side characters in the PJ series only really get one line a dialogue. Abilities were only slightly made up as only certain characters were mentioned to have special powers.

Also I did note that a review mentioned how similar the lake scene from chapter 3 was to Son of the Huntress, I have to say that it doesn't really matter because I already planned out book 2 and 3, and they will be vastly different from every other story(that may be a slight exaggeration). Also i can't really be blamed for 'copying' when 50% or more of PJ and Naruto crossovers are the same pretty much. Son of the huntress may be where I get many things from in the beginning chapters it was only certain parts that were copied, most I adjusted to my own style.

Chapter start

"So...what now?" Naruto asked. He tried to calm himself down from his 'meeting' with the oracle.

Chiron answered Naruto promptly. "Now, you much choose two others to join you on your quest. Three is the sacred number, and having more than that generally leads to grave consequences."

Naruto raised an eyebrow at the rule but decided not to argue. While he wasn't sure if he believed that going against the number held consequences he doubted any of the campers would be too willing to break the rule.

"Two people then..." Naruto murmured as his mind raced in order to find suitable participants.

Chiron tried to make a suggestion to Naruto, "Perhaps Naruto, Percy can be one of the others on the quest. He is being accused by Zeus so that would relieve him of the -"

"No." Naruto shook his head immediately. "No offense to Percy but accusation or not, he still isn't ready for this new type of life. It's hasn't even been a week and sending him on a dangerous quest like this would likely just kill him. At least in these 'walls' no outright harm can come to him less someone wants to start a war with their death. Besides, where we're going, someone his age would only get in the way by attracting attention."

Chiron frowned but didn't say anything to refute Naruto as he agreed inwardly. However his words did raise a question. One that was answered by Annabeth.

"What do you mean he'd attract attention? Does that mean everyone around our age isn't a good choice?" She was curious because she wanted, no, needed to go on a quest. Unfortunately she knew that Naruto wouldn't back from his decision. The stories Silena told others about Naruto painted a pretty strong picture of his character to whoever heard.

"The quest requires us to head west, so on the off chance we need to use certain transportation, it would be easier if we didn't have to worry about people wondering why a kid is coming with. Besides, most of the kids here aren't trained enough." Naruto wondered if he sounded like a hypocrite right now since he was a shinobi at 12/13 that went through multiple dangerous situations. But Naruto had a point, unlike him, these kids had little reason to go on a quest. Most of them were still naive and he felt they would hold him back.

There was a difference in training and capabilities. Even if these 12 year olds were stronger than the norm, they would not survive a battle with a 12 year old shinobi.

"Why would you need to head west?" Grover asked.

"This isn't a quote, but basically on the west coast is a god who isn't very nice and the stolen weapon." Naruto kept what was actually said under wraps, he felt that saying it aloud would only worsen the situation.

Grover stuttered. "A G-god on the west coast that isn't nice? Ba-a-a. That must mean Lord Ha-" Grover stopped himself from completing the sentence. He didn't think mentioning the Lord of the Dead's name would be good.

"It makes sense...if Lord Zeus and Lord Poseidon were to fight, he would only gain from it." Silena realized.

"Anyways...I think I figured out who to bring." Naruto didn't want to waste any time. The amount of campers with the skill to go on the quest were near the age of 15 or over. However some of them were out for various reasons depending.

Luke was someone that truly had experience and wasn't really naive. However his bad experience with quests would either make his liability due to paranoia or lead him to decline. Charles Beckendorf was also someone he knew would decline because the blacksmith didn't trust in his own skills and would rather not go. Clovis, son of Hypnos was always calm but more likely to just sleep. Lou Ellen, daughter of Hecate preferred working with his inherited powers and thus held little skill in anything other than her magic. Miranda Gardiner wouldn't accept going as she preferred to stay out of conflicts when necessary. The Stoll's were only a year and a half older than Percy, but they had great teamwork, unfortunately they also had a habit of getting sidetracked easily. Something that would fade away when they get older.

On the other hand, he did have many candidates to choose from.

Lee Fletcher, son of Apollo was a good archer and could heal with Hymns. He got along well with most campers and could work well with anyone.

Victoria Amber was a daughter of Apollo that acted more like a daughter of Ares. She had a slight control of fire that allowed her to cover her sword in flames for a few seconds. However she was noted by Chiron to be reckless.

Kayla Knowles was also a daughter of Apollo, and due to being competitive, held one of the better body physiques of the camp.

Issac Schuster was a son of Hephaestus that was tough and incredible when it came to supporting his allies. However he was also indecisive and was the reason why Beckendorf is seen as the leader of the Blacksmith God's children.

Clarisse was a daughter of Ares, and he knew her skills plenty well. The question with her would be, will she listen to him?

Silena he knew for a fact was likely the most skilled in her cabin. Short swords, bows, and flexibility were her weapons. Her charm speak was plenty dangerous as well.

It was a tough decision making process, but he knew who to bring based on what roles they would play.

Naruto himself could play any role due to his skills, but he would likely be attacking aggressively from a distance while popping in at close range with his speed.

He just needed people he could trust most of all.

Because of that...Silena would come with him.

The two of them were best friends so trust was no issue. And he saw her skills at Capture The Flag. She would be able to fight up close and at a distance. Her charm speak would also assist in taking away things like weapons or vehicles from thugs which would no doubt be needed. The next issue would be to bring someone with the ability to work well with Silena. Lee and Isaac didn't have any problem with Silena, but her looks would likely distract them even though they weren't really interested in dating the daughter of Aphrodite. Victoria and Kayla were both likely to start fights with Silena due to her looks, though in the latter's case she would likely detract the quest to try to compete with Silena as much as possible.

That left Clarisse as the best possible choice. Despite his beat down of her the day before, she was rather skilled and would complement both Silena and his skill with her spear. She also seemed to take her loss not harshly so she wouldn't have a grudge against him. And Silena and Clarisse got along rather well too so there would be no worries about weak teamwork.

"Well Silena, how do you feel like risking your life on an adventure."

The girl with colored streaks in her black hair looked shocked. When her face went back to normal it had a smile. "You know I do." She wasn't gonna let her best friend risk possible death alone after all.

"Then who is your second pick?" Chiron asked.

Naruto didn't take long to answer with his mind made up. "Clarisse."

Percy and Annabeth both frowned at his second choice. They had no qualm with Silena since they knew the two were good friends. On the other hand Clarisse was a person that neither of the pre-teens liked. The older teen was a bully and crude in their eyes.

Regardless they didn't complain, in Percy's case he simply knew not to bother convincing Naruto otherwise and that the water boy was best putting his trust in the teen. Annabeth on the other hand didn't know what words could convince him otherwise especially when he already crossed her out on the list for the quest.

Chiron simply nodded as he could tell what Naruto's logic was. "Very well. Grover, will you go get Clarisse?" He asked the goat boy.

Grover looked nervous as he didn't really feel safe around the children of Ares.

Naruto stopped him from replying. "Allow me and Silena to talk to invite her personally. Anything else you need to say?"

"Only that I want you to be careful. If you must face a god then I ask that you exercise caution. They are not warriors, but they still hold great power and abilities. Try to stay on the good graces of the gods you meet. Argus is part of the camp's security and will be able to drive you to the city, but no further."

The two teens nodded and left for their third member. The preteen wished them luck. Grover was the only one that had a conflicted look on his face. On one hand, he didn't have to follow Percy on a dangerous quest, on the other hand, this would mean his license would have to wait until Percy really did get a quest. Either way he tried to put a hopeful look to wish Naruto luck.

Chiron felt somewhat relieved. Naruto was no mere demigod. During Naruto's first days he had talked to Chiron in private to surprise him with his real identity and origin. He had little doubt Naruto could succeed on his quest. In the meantime, this would also give him the time to train Percy and Annabeth. He knew that Percy would need it in the future due to a certain prophecy while Annabeth would no doubt convince Percy to let her join him on a quest. They would need the training to survive.

Naruto and Silena cruised over to the Ares cabin. In the front was a bored teen who was waiting for his siblings to come out.

The boy raised an eyebrow, "Can I help you?"

"Can you get Clarisse out here?" Naruto asked.

The demigod raised the eyebrow again before walking in to presumably grab Clarisse.

The girl walked out a little later. Her hair was wet and showed she just got out the shower. She looked surprised to see Silena with Naruto.

"Alright, what's up? The dweeb didn't mention anything other than to get out here?" The way she referred to her sibling seemed mean but their was a tone of endearment only a few could catch.

"I got a quest, wanna come?" Naruto asked briefly with a smile.

Not giving any time for a reply he said, "Argus will pick us up in the front. Take half an hour to prepare but don't worry about packing too much food or clothes. I can take care of that."

When he was done talking he walked back to his cabin. Clarisse had a incredulous look on her face. She looked at Silena and in her eyes were the words. 'What the fuck was that.'

Silena had sweatdropped with a small smile as her eyes were closed. When she opened them she said, "Naruto probably figured that you wouldn't reject the offer to be on a quest. Come on. Let's help each other pack while I fill you in. He said not to pack too much so the half hours likely just a formality." She lightly pushed the slightly confused taller girl into the cabin.

When the two were done. They both had a small pack of supplies and clothes on their back to provide for them in emergencies. The two had their weapons with them but they weren't able to change forms so they would have to rely on the mist to conceal the weapons.

When they got to where their ride would be, they saw Naruto and Argus, who was a man with...many eyes so to speak.

Naruto turned around to see that Silena had a slightly smaller than average sword at her waist and a normal brown bow on her back. She had a black shirt with pink rhinestones and normal jeans. Her black hair with violet streaks were pulled back in a ponytail. Clarisse had a normal sized sword but rather than having it at the waist it was on her back alongside a spear. She was wearing jeans with a black shirt that had DEATH in jagged letters.

Naruto gave a small smile at their preparedness. "Alright, luckily Argus can take us to city so that will shave some time off. Where he plans on dropping us off isn't too far from my house so we can drop by quickly before we go off on the quest officially. I have some things that'll help us out if we want to give ourselves an easier time."

The two rose an eyebrow when he mentioned they would go to his house for more supplies but figured it was a good idea. It was likely the reason why he told them to pack light as they could get a majority of their needed supplies there. Not only that but Naruto wasn't carrying anything with him in their eyes. That was natural since when Naruto arrived he didn't actually have anything with him aside from his bow, which they wondered why he didn't have it since it seemed unique. It must have showed on their faces since he pointed to his necklace which went under his shirt. That told them either his necklace transformed to a bow, or that there was some comedic misunderstanding between them.

The three got in the back of the vehicle and thus their quest officially began.

Clarisse was the first the break the silence of the car. "First off you two, I get that you're like a couple or whatever, but try to keep the display of affection at a minimum. I don't mind if you kiss but at least keep your clothes on."

The two laughed at Clarisse though Silena did have a flushed face. Naruto decided to joke around with the girl. He put his left arm around Silena and said, "Actually me and Silena are only friends with benefits but if we ever decide to go steady we'll let you know." Since he was looking at Clarisse he didn't notice Silena get a little red and smile.

The shorter girl became composed again and she pushed herself closer onto Naruto and gave a wink at the tall girl and stuck her tongue out playfully, "I dunno how we'll ever keep our hands off each other, but we'll make sure to warn you in advance if the clothes do come off." Clarisse rolled her eyes while Naruto and Silena laughed. Naruto also noticed that Argus gave him a thumbs up.

"Jokes aside blondie, is there a reason why you chose us specifically? I figure you would prefer Luke over me honestly."

Naruto took his arm off Silena and gave a thoughtful look. "Well Luke has...problems with quests. And if I'm being honest I don't like him all that much. Even if he does remind me of an old friend of mine." Luke felt a lot like Sasuke when he knew when to lighten up. "And the other campers our age that are ready for a quest have problems that I don't want to deal with when the entirety of America rests on us. You I'm sure I can get along with just fine and it helps that I know you get along with Silena pretty well. And as for Silena I know I can trust her and it helps that her skill set will compliment ours. Plus that charm speak can help out a lot."

Clarisse seemed surprised at his reasonings and inwardly couldn't help but agree. Silena looked like she expected them. When Naruto went on to explain what they should do in battle situations or if they got split up, both girls were surprised, but Silena was able to catch herself a lot quicker than Clarisse since she knew that despite his looks, Naruto was a great planner. When Naruto played in all the sports teams games, he was able to make a plan to use all of his team's strengths and the opposing team's weaknesses. And when Naruto played his online video games he could easily make strategies of what his team should do. If Silena was being honest, she thought that Naruto was a sure in for being a child of Athena, since despite his everyday actions, he really was smart.

"I hope this thief of ours doesn't give us too much trouble when confronted." Naruto mentioned halfheartedly.

Clarisse replied, "As if things would be that easy for us." And then she gave a snort.

Silena frowned. "Maybe I should ask nicely?"

"I think we have a better chance of all of us getting laid at the exact same time rather than that happening."

"Who knows Clarisse, maybe our thief has a soft spot for puppy eyes."

They talked and joked until they arrived at a stop. Not wasting time, they thanked Argus and Naruto lead them to his home.

After a few minutes, they arrived at a large building several stories high.

"Hopefully the elevators are free." Naruto proceeded to lead them into his room that was on the highest floor. As they entered it, the two girls saw that Naruto's room was large and had several rooms in it as well.

"Dang Blondie, living the high life huh?"

"In my defense I didn't actually buy it, my mom did."

Silena was exploring the room with curiosity.

"Anyways come over to this closet, the stuff we need will be here." Inside a very spacious closet were scrolls and scrolls piled in a mess. "Uh, give me a second." He got the scrolls and summoned what they needed before Silena and Clarisse actually saw the scrolls.

He threw them a small pack that held a weeks or so amount of food and water. Then he brought out two large guitar cases and gave it to them and got one for himself.

"What are these for?" Silena asked.

"Those are for your weapons. They can't be transformed so they might give us away to monsters and at least in these it'll be slightly less of a hassle. Plus these guitars are modified to be able to hold our weapons and actually guitars." He showed them what he meant by showing the insides.

"And if it takes too long to get our weapons?" Clarisse said.

"I can defend us long enough. Plus these things can pack a punch if you hit something hard enough."

"So we're good to go?" Silena brought up.

"Not quite young demigods." The three who were called out jumped in surprise. "Greetings. I am Britomartis, a minor goddess."

Britomartis was a brown haired woman who wore an ordinary brown dress. In her hands was a single knotted bag.

"Naruto, I am a good friend, follower, and ally of Lady Artemis. Ever since I was a mere nymph and she saved me and my chastity I promised I would do anything for her. While I was at first skeptical of you, I see that you truly are her child. When she asked me to do this, I accepted without hesitation."

Naruto, Silena, and Clarisse were surprised to say the least. They never expected to be helped by, well, anyone really.

"Thank you. I don't know what to say other than that." Naruto said truthfully. But he was happy that those who were close to his mother wanted to help him. It somewhat made him feel...warm.

She smiled. "I figured as much. Take this bag. It holds a net meant to completely entrap whatever beast or being inside of it. In return for this however, you must sacrifice whatever is inside the net to me for every use. So I entreat you to be careful with this. There are many who are hoping you succeed, and just as many hoping you fail, so please be careful with who you trust. Many will be trying to help and trying to foil you." She then walked behind a wall and disappeared from the room.

The three were silent and looked at each other. In the span of a minute, a minor goddess came with a gift, said she was a friend and ally of Naruto's mother, and cautioned them that many gods and who knows what will be interfering.

"All in favor of partially ignoring this happened?" All in agreement, Naruto tossed them some snacks and said, "Come on, I just remembered there was something I wanted to do."

"You sure it can't wait?" Silena asked even though she knew what the answer would be.

"Trust me, when you see it, you'll realize why I don't want to wait." He said with a tone of seriousness. "Besides, it does sorta coincide with the quest, if things go right anyways."

He lead the two to a mile away from his home. When he stopped and turned to an apartment complex they realized they arrived. He lead them up to the second floor inside.

"Listen! Me and Percy are moving out and you WILL stay away from us!" they heard a shout from the room with an open door and luggage on the wall. Naruto narrowed his eyes and ran to the door, the other two right behind him.

"Stupid bitch! I've let you and that stupid brat live here and this is how you repay me! You've barely even given me any tail this entire time and you know what that's changin'!" They heard a rip right as they got to the door and saw a sight that made them growl. A woman was being pressed against the wall by a _disgusting creature_ of a man. Her shirt was ripped with her covered assets were being crushed by the pig of a man's hand.

Just as the man leaned in to the woman's face, he felt a burning sensation in his large hip area. Before he knew it he was lifted backwards and his head was smashed into the ground.

Naruto then immediately went over to the kitchen to wash his hands with extra soap. Much as he wanted to hurt the asshole Gabe. He really didn't want to dirty his weapons. A German suplex sounded like a good option but he also didn't want to wrap his arms and press his body against the smelly and disgusting creature of a man. Thankfully, he was able to send so much chakra to his hands that they emitted outwards so his skin never actually touched the bastard.

Meanwhile the two young girls and mother were surprised to see Naruto lift up a fat and large man with his hands without any problem and slam his head easily with a wrestling move. Little did they know that Naruto could still lift even heavier objects.

"You alright Percy's mom?" Naruto clarified her identity to Silena and Clarisse.

The woman wasn't confused as she realized that he said that likely for the sake of the other two.

"Thank you Naruto. I'm happy you were here but you didn't have to do that you know. Even if I had to...suffer like that by Gabe, I would have been able to bring it to court. He might try to take legal action against you. Or illegal." She said worriedly as she tried to find a sweater to cover herself up. She rubbed her wrists as some big bruises were beginning to appear.

"Miss, nobody should go through that. Especially with that...thing." Silena said as she handed Sally both a shirt and a sweater.

"It's nice to meet some of Naruto's friends. I'm Sally Jackson."

While Sally was busy putting on her clothes with Silena's help and Naruto was busy washing his hands, Clarisse was smacking the only unconscious body in the room with an umbrella she picked up near the luggage outside the room.

"Geez, so little Prissy grew up with this? I feel a little bad for him." What was left unsaid was that she felt a little respect for the dumb brat for putting up with her current punching bag. Still, she was curious as to why this man was with someone like Sally, who was not unattractive.

"Percy's stench as a half blood was too extraordinary to the point that monsters were chasing him as a kid. This thing smells so disgusting that his smell overpowered Percy's. It either covered it up or just repulsed the monsters away. Still trying to figure that out." Naruto explained to her.

"What are you doing here Naruto? Last I saw of you was at the camp?" Sally asked Naruto as she was now fully dressed again.

Naruto was currently looking at his hands as he wondered what he should use to wipe his hands since he didn't want to use anything Gabe may have touched. Seeing this Silena rolled her eyes and let out a breath of air as she pulled a small towel out of her bag and gave it to Naruto. Now smiling, Naruto proceeded to wipe his hands.

"Well don't worry about the details Sally. I gave you a spare key already and you know where my home is so just hang out there until you get you and Percy a new home. In the meantime, me and the girls will be taking Gabe's surprisingly clean car away."

"Did you. Did you plan this?" Sally asked. She always thought it was weird that Naruto had given her a spare key and told her where he lived along with the words "when you need it".

"I wouldn't go that far. But I knew that it wouldn't be too long before you could finally leave the asshole. You deserve better than to be forced to survive with this shithead." Naruto said.

"Language." Silena and Sally both said absentmindedly. Clarisse meanwhile rolled her eyes at their slight scolding as she dropped the umbrella. There was no fun in hitting an unconscious body. Even if it did deserve that and more.

"Silena, Clarisse, can you help out Sally with moving her stuff into a taxi? I think I need to have a 'talk' with this guy about karma."

Hearing an edge to his voice, they decided to follow his words. Clarisse had an eyebrow raised at what the 'talk' would be. "Come here outside, I already took everything that didn't belong to Gabe."

Naruto closed the door. When he turned he grabbed his phone and tossed it to a clone he made sealessly.

He summoned chakra strings to overturn the bastard so he was against the wall. Giving a hard kick to the left with his right leg, he woke up Gabe whose head smashed against the wall.

"If I'm gonna enjoy this next part. Then Percy is going to enjoy it even more."

"Hey Blondie! We finished-" Clarisse opened the door and stopped. Since they were only away for a few minutes she didn't expect anything too bad with what Naruto would do, but the sight actually made her both cringe and want to give a thumbs up.

Naruto meanwhile, put his phone away. "Then we can get going. Also, don't move the blanket of the body. It's there for a reason."

The only thing she could see from the moment she stopped after coming into the room was a stained brown blanket over what she assumed was the dead body. The room was trashed and there was blood over the trashed objects. "Now I know this looks bad. But he did deserve it. And he's still alive. For now anyways." The large man had a lot of blood in him.

"For now?" She questioned.

"Let's just say I feel like I made my mom very happy."

Curiosity got the better of her as she lifted up the sheet and immediately dropped it. Then the cringe she easily held when she entered the room come again. This time she couldn't hold back. "Gods blondie. Did you even leave anything untouched." She tried to say good naturedly.

Naruto knew she didn't say the sentence as a question but decided to say something anyways. "Well the part I recorded for Percy wasn't that bad. But then he said something I couldn't let go so I turned off the camera annnnnd this happened."

Clarisse was almost afraid to ask given the state of the corpse she saw. "What was it?"

"Nothing good. I'll tell you that much. Although it did include my mom and Sally. And technically you and Silena. Anyways the point is he reminded me why he's scum of the earth."

She just stared at him.

"He really did deserve it though." He tried to reason to her.

Then she smirked. "Don't sweat it blondie. I'm messing with you. Though you're lucky it was me who came in here. I don't quite think Silena would have let you off easily."

He let out a sound of relief as they went back outside. They saw a taxi go away and Silena smirked as she used charm speak to get the driver to not make Sally have to pay the fee.

He brought out the keys to their new car. "Alright come on. We have a long drive."


	6. Chapter 6

AHLT 6

While I would have liked to add more, I feel like since this chapter had a very singular purpose in a way, it was better to keep it like this. Review if you want more. It's the only way to get me inspired enough to get it out sooner.

The quest takers rode away in their stolen car. Or as Naruto had said it, their liberated car. The two girls were in the back together with their guitar cases in front of them. In the passenger seat was Naruto's guitar case.

They've been driving for several hours outside the state of New York, unfortunately or fortunately, nothing else happened in that timespan. Given that they were required to go to California to meet with Hades, they needed some way to make that work.

Naruto's plan was to hijack a plane that'll fit the three of them. While it wouldn't get them that far, it'll be enough that they won't have to worry about time. Clarisse had warned Naruto about the danger of flying but he waved it off. "We won't get shot out of the sky when technically we've done nothing to deserve it. After all this quest is to retrieve the bolt" were his words to calm her down.

Naruto knew one of Gabe's Scum Friends owned a vehicle business which was the reason he had such a nice car in the first place. This would be where Silena's talents would come in handy. She would convince him to give them a plane, and then make the man send the car back to Sally.

Given that nothing was happening and also that they knew what needed to be done at least for the foreseeable future, the teens had nothing to do except be normal teens on a road trip. That meant...

"Silena can you seriously cut it with this trash music? My ears are bleeding."

"It isn't that bad!"

They argued.

A lot.

Mostly about the music they should listen to since there was nothing else going on.

Ever since they hit the empty road and the girls started arguing, Naruto had a perpetual sweat-drop for a while.

"Silena, listen to me, this pop music is complete trash."

"Shut up Clarisse you're just mad you can't listen to your edgy music."

"Grrr."

If it wasn't for the fact he knew they were good friends, Naruto would have been worried that they would start attacking each other in the car.

Naruto mostly kept out of the argument. He didn't particularly care about what music was playing since he was busy driving and making sure that no monsters snuck up on them. And even if he didn't have to be on the look out for anything he didn't hate any music genre so he still wouldn't have an opinion.

""NARUTO!"" They both yelled agitatedly.

"Can you guys calm down? It's just music. Nothing's happened to us since we got out of New York. We're bound to get attacked sooner or later. And Silena, you don't even hate rock music so why are you arguing so badly?" Naruto said rolling his eyes.

Silena sighed and pouted. "These are my favorite songs and singers though..."

Clarisse cracked her knuckles. "Fine-fine. But after our next stop I'll be picking the music."

Naruto thanked Clarisse's sensibility inwardly. "Since you two are done now. You'll be happy to hear that our destination isn't too far now."

Since they were no longer arguing a silence fell upon the car.

Silena blinked before turning down the music since it was pretty loud. "Actually, since things have calmed down at the moment, why don't we give the camp a call? It would be helpful to have some knowledge on the current situation."

Naruto thought it was a good idea. Even if they knew their deadline, it wouldn't be good if the gods suddenly decided to forgot about the deadline in the first place. Clarisse didn't particularly care but figured it would at least kill some boredom.

While Silena was setting up the call, Naruto began to speed up a little more so they could get the plane faster.

"Hey Grover. How's everything doing?" Silena's words brought his attention to her.

"Baa-aa-aaa. Geez Silena. Give a satyr a warning next time."

"Hey goatboy, what's Chiron up to right now?" It was very apparent that Clarisse didn't care for pleasantries as much as Silena, who had rolled her eyes at the other's frankness.

"Percy made a little mess during archery practice so Chiron's trying to clean things up. What's up on your end?"

"Nothing much. We've been in a car we got from Percy's step-dad for awhile. Luckily no trouble has come to us in that time."

Grover looked put off. "You mean Gabe gave you his car? How'd you do that?"

Clarisse decided to talk to him this time. "Saying he gave it to us isn't exactly right. But Blondie sorta...took it from him alongside some other stuff." She looked a little uncomfortable saying that last part.

Both Silena and Grover were confused but let it go. Naruto didn't pay much attention to their conversation since he was driving.

"Anyways goat boy, how's the situation on your end?"

"Well, things have been quiet so far. I guess Naruto being the Son of Artemis and going on the quest has somewhat calmed the gods or something. The weather's been normal, and the gods aren't telling any of their children anything. So nobodies siding with anyone so tensions a little high, but everyone's been trying to act normal for the most part. Nobody want the gods to escalate things any further, so you guys need to get things done as quick as possible."

"Well at least they're not at each other's throats." Silena mentioned.

"Ya you're telling me. At least nobody's blaming Percy or anything."

Clarisse snorted. "Oh please. Who could blame water boy for anything? He doesn't even know how to shoot a bow correctly."

"Alright you two. Say bye to Grover, we're here."

The two girls looked out to see a small two story building around a bunch of different vehicles. There was a clearing on the side that stretched onward for some distance.

They dispelled the iris message and got their things.

They saw a man out front who waved goodbye to what they assumed was a customer.

When he saw them, he gave what he probably thought was a charming smile at Silena. It really wasn't.

Silena followed Naruto's instructions from earlier and charmspeaked the man into giving them a plane. He dumbly nodded and went inside to follow the instructions.

"Hey...you guys hear that?" Clarisse narrowed her eyes and got ready to get out her spear from the guitar case.

Naruto didn't say anything as he could both feel and hear it. The ground shook, and he heard scurrying and the falling of trees. "Silena, keep the guy charmspeaked. Clarisse, spear out." He signaled the war daughter to follow him and he hid behind the buildings corner as he gazed out the runaway.

"You see anything?" Naruto heard behind him.

Before he could answer, something broke out from the trees at the runaway's sides. It was a...

"A scorpion? What the fuck?" Naruto couldn't help himself say. It looked as creepy as those damn insects back in the forest of death.

Clarisse peeked over his shoulder to check it out and paled. The scorpion was humongous. It was the size of the building they were hiding behind.

"Hey guys. I sent the guy away with the car and-! What the hell!" Silena said accidentally before covering her mouth with the keys in hand.

"Silena, don't you think you have other things to worry about besides the fact you just cursed?" Clarisse said.

Naruto didn't take his eyes away from the monster. "Silena, where's the plane?"

Silena crouched and peaked over Naruto's stomach. "Ah! It's right there!"

Fortunately it was already on the runaway. Unfortunately it couldn't take off with the scorpion there.

"Okay, then Silena, me and Clarisse will distract the thing. You get that plane ready and running."

"Newsflash! I don't know how to start a plane."

"New plan then, you two distract it, I'll start the plane." He got their things and the keys.

Silena had her bow out and Clarisse had her spear. The two looked at each other. "So...any ideas?"

Naruto rolled his eyes before moving out.

Clarisse put her shield back and put her spear in that hand. Then she got out another spear. This one was a more disposable one.

"Okay so I guess I'll throw this to get its attention, in the meantime, see if you can hit its stinger or its eyes. Stay near the trees."

Silena nodded before moving out.

Clarisse laid against the wall and took a deep breath. "Okay. You got this. This things nothing. Alright. Alright." She told herself.

"Okay...let's do this." She ran out and threw her spear as hard as possible. It struck the stinger and stuck out. The beast squirmed and squeaked in pain. "Huh. That worked better than I thought." She put her shield and spear back in their normal positions for a fight.

The scorpion crawled to her and swung it's right stinger at her. It clashes with her shield and she was forced to step back a few feet. "Ugh!"

The creature was then distracted by the sound of something hitting its armored body. It turned and saw nothing but trees.

Clarisse saw this as her chance and stabbed at it with her spear. Unfortunately it did little except scratch it. "Shit! Shoulda got my sword instead." She muttered. It was clear the electricity that emitted from her spear had affected it, but unless she hit it's inwards, it wouldn't mean much.

She backed off.

She looked to the side and saw that Naruto was still trying to turn on the plane.

The scorpion stabbed at her and she barely rolled out of the way. It's stinger pierced the ground deeply. Clarisse had a look of realization as an idea came to her. She jumped on its back and stabbed at it. Each time it did little but scratch it. "Gah! Stupid thing!" She crouched down and put her spear behind her back.

With one hand on its back, she slammed her shield as hard as possible. She grit her teeth as her arm vibrated from the force. Again and again, Clarisse struck it as it's tail was stuck. Even as it hurt her arm, she did her best to crack its armor.

But in the end, her shield was what broke first.

It shattered to pieces and she wasn't even given time to scream in frustration as she was thrown off the body.

It scurried to her and she got spear out. Before she could get up it slashed at her with its claw. Clarisse blocked it with her spear but was still sent across the ground. "Oof!"

Silena saw her friend getting roughed around and grimaced. Her arrows weren't doing much against the plating, and she wouldn't be much help if she went up there either. She maneuvered around the trees to get a clear shot of the creatures eyes.

She shot arrow after arrow and still no luck. It had no luck stabbing Clarisse or catching her within its claws. Even so, it was clear that the girl was lucky in her movements.

Silena tried to calm herself and remember her lessons in archery. When Naruto had tried giving her tips in archery, she found that she couldn't really follow his directions well. Even Chiron and Lee's tips didn't help her that much. It always annoyed her, but now she wished she was better. Hitting a bullseye on a static target was much easier than hitting a constantly moving monster, especially when the target was its eyes.

She tried to clear her mind. She tried but she couldn't!

 _"Silena. Calm down. If you think so hard about missing your target you really will miss."_

 _"But I need to prepare for the next arrow if I do miss! I might not be bad with the bow but I'll need plenty of improvement still."_

 _"That's what I'm talking about. You're just in too much of a rush to hit it. Calm down and clear your mind. As an archer, you should only hit your target once, and that should be the killing blow. For example, if you hunt a deer, you need to be precise and think only about hitting it that one time, it you don't, you'll probably give the animal some unnecessary pain and miss your chance on getting it. Maybe you're just being too self conscious about it. I know you want to prove yourself, but that alone doesn't exactly mean much in a fight."_

 _"Haaaaah. I just don't get this. Sorry Naruto."_

 _"I'm sure you will. Just focus on one arrow. Act as if that arrow is the last in quiver. When your in the heat of battle, maybe you'll realize what I mean. A single arrow is all it takes to save a life."_

Silena bit her bottom lip as she notched her bow. If she could just hit its eye, then it would give Clarisse time to recover.

Even though it hurt to basically stand aside and let Clarisse deal with it, she stood by and aimed.

Clarisse could only scratch its armor and hope that it would slow down the beast.

Just one shot.

Silena's lip was beginning to bleed at this point, even so it wasn't noticed as she focused on the opening she needed.

 **Just...**

Her eyes zoomed in on the tiny eyeballs in the front. It seemed to be moving slower given the shocks from Clarisse.

 **One...**

Silena didn't have anything going through her mind except what her target was. Her arrow would be enough to get Clarisse some breathing space.

 **Shot!**

She release the arrow. And it flew straight and true. It pierced the left eye of the scorpion all the way.

It screeched in pain and Clarisse back off and took deep breaths as she wiped her head.

Silena smiled victoriously and predatorily.

Clarisse called out to Silena. "Nice shot! Think you can do it again!"

Silena didn't answer but got another arrow.

Even as the monster squirmed, it was easier to hit the target once more.

Clarisse grinned as she took her spear and made it grind against one of the scorpion's joints. "C'mon! C'mon!" She had a victorious look as it sunk into the leg and flinched violently as it was shocked.

The monster roared again and somewhat sunk forward. She looked to the scorpions front side and saw Naruto with a grin. He had both of its claws stuck around the net they were given earlier. She wasn't even sure how that happened but decided now was not the time to question it.

She ripped out her spear and ran to his side, idly noting that there were more arrows in its eyes. "Blondie! We good to go!"

"Got to clear the way first!" Naruto saw the spear hanging out from its tail and an idea came to his mind.

With one hand on the net, he held the other out. "I'll throw you up!"

Following his directions instinctively, she jumped and Naruto pushed one of her feet. It lifted her high enough to see her spear and she immediately realized what he intended. She grabbed the parts that were stuck outside and tried not to get flung off.

Clarisse nudged herself closer so her feet could use the tail as leverage. With both hands clutched tightly, she wiggled it around and made the wound deeper.

With a red face, she wretched it to the side with all her strength and the spear came out. Clarisse fell on its back. "Oof!" She looked up and saw the tail was half off.

"Raaagh!" She hear Naruto roar and looked ludicrously as he ripped off the claws and they were wrapped comfortingly by the net. He slid up next to Clarisse and picked her up.

"How the hell did-" she didn't finish as Naruto had to grab its stinger as it swung at them. He pushed it back and looked back at the scorpions back. It had a small crack, one barely noticeable.

"Clarisse!" Silena called out to the side and tossed her own shield.

Clarisse caught it and looked back at Naruto who was stabbing at the scorpion's back with his sword. She pair attention to the tail again as it kept swinging at them, and each time she pushed it back with Silena's shield.

A crackling sound told her that Naruto had took out the plating of the scorpion. He had a victorious look as he took Clarisse's spear from her back and stabbed it straight through the scorpion.

"Hyyeeeuh!" It made a strange sound as it collapsed.

"Guys we did it!" Silena cheered after a silence.

"Ya...I guess...we did." Clarisse said, taking deep breaths in between.

The body eventually disappeared, and the two teens plus a spear fell on the ground.

"Gross. What is this?" Clarisse said as she picked up her favorite weapon. It had a strange liquid around its point.

"I suppose the blood of the scorpion is stuck to it for now. Any monster that you stab with that will have two nasty surprises probably."

"What was this thing anyways? I don't remember any known scorpions in Greek history." Silena said.

Naruto looked over to the net which still had the claws in it.

He lit up the net itself to sacrifice the claws. "Same here. The only thing I think it could be would be the scorpion that Apollo sent to sting Orion."

The girls were surprised and looked at each other. "You think?"

"I don't know. Either way. You two did good in taking it down. Assuming that version of the story is true, it's a good thing none of us got stung." He compressed the net as the fire was out and the claws were gone.

Clarisse and Silena grimaced. They hoped that it was just their luck that the monster that happened to be known to be sent by the God Apollo just coincidentally attacked them. If the god was the one who sent it after them...

They didn't think any further than that and followed Naruto to the plane. They wanted to get out of here.


	7. Chapter 7

AHLT 7- Star's in the night

Fuck. Too lazy to write an author's note. For now. Obligatory apologies and real life fuck ups. If something becomes super off with the chapter it's probably the upload and not me. Yatta yatta. Review after reading, favorite if you haven't. Please and thank yous. Off to the chapter.

Silena had to keep a strict eye on Clarisse since the girl wanted to see what it felt like to stick her head out the window of plane.

Naruto didn't blame her, since the only thing keeping him from doing the same was the fact that he was piloting through the not very cloudy sky.

"Gods Clarisse, can you chill out, if you stick your head out we won't be able to help if you fly out the window."

"Now you're exaggerating Silena."

Naruto rolled his eyes as he moved back to get more comfortable.

It was clear to Naruto now that the two interacted a lot like in the car and as they did now on a normal basis, so it was nothing for him to worry about.

"-ruto! Naruto!"

"Hm?" He turned his head to see Silena narrowing her eyes at him.

"It isn't a good habit to space out you know." She chided him. "Especially when you're the one driving."

"It's piloting in this case actually." He corrected her. "And I'll have you know I'm always aware of my surroundings, even in my sleep."

He resisted the urge to laugh. He wasn't lying when he said he was always aware of his surroundings. In his sleep he often "sleep attacked" as Sasuke put it. Apparently Naruto was even more of a juggernaut when he was asleep then when he was awake. Kakashi and Sakura theorized it was because when he was asleep he didn't really register pain like when he was asleep.

Naruto was both proud and embarrassed to admit that he once took down a bear that snuck up on him in his sleep by putting it-ironically enough, in a sleeper hold.

"I will never forgive you if you somehow crash us blondie." Clarisse chipped in from the back.

"Geez. No trust nowadays." He said good naturedly.

Silena excitedly clapped her hands once as she was reminded of something because of his sentence. "So who wants to share an emotional story or background."

The two stared at her.

"What? Don't look at me like that. Haven't you guys ever payed attention to movies and books and stuff? After a tough obstacle that results in our growth we're supposed to talk about it. Or in general if we have some sort of secret we have to talk about it or it'll result in us splitting up!"

Naruto rolled his eyes and laughed while Clarisse grunted. "Someone's been watching too much anime lately."

Silena pouted. "What? Don't make fun of me, listening to those things can't be that bad considering how abnormal our lives are."

Naruto laughed as he defended her. "It isn't a bad thing to like anime and manga Silena. And besides, I guess you aren't too wrong in my experience." His shinobi experience that is. After the wave mission Sasuke had taken to talking to Naruto and Sakura a bit more. It was only because of that that the two were able to understand Sasuke and his mindset.

"I'm only messing with you Silena. Stop being so self conscious about liking anime. I don't see why that's a bad thing since they aren't like American cartoons or anything."

"It isn't really attractive though..." She whispered to herself.

Naruto of course, still heard it. It confused him how Silena didn't care about being seen as a typical daughter of Aphrodite then proceeded to care about her looks or attractiveness or something. He chalked it up as one of those things about girls that he won't ever understand.

"You go first then."

Silena looked up at him.

He smiled and moved his head so he was looking forward again.

"Don't think I didn't notice your archery skills earlier. You aren't a bad shot, but precise hits like against Skorpius's eyes don't come to you as easily as they do me."

Silena twirled her black with blue highlighted hair. "I have those lessons of yours to thank actually. It's hard to explain- but they really did help in the heat of the moment. I just wanted to hit the thing so I could help Clarisse."

"Guess I'm gonna have to step up my game if I want to keep the title of Best Archer."

"Okay, now you're exaggerating. There's no way I could beat you in archery. It's like breathing to you!"

Naruto shook his head with a sad smile. "I wasn't exactly born with these skills. I know that I took the title of Camps Strongest but I worked my ass off for those skills. My whole life I've never been able to do anything, even fighting was something I was never good at." He began to think of his old world. How Sasuke would beat him in fights. How he could only win fights because of the shadow clone jutsu or with his common sense defying wits.

After the wave mission, Naruto realized that he needed to work even harder than before. Kakashi, for reasons unknown to the blonde, had never trained him for too long, and it wasn't until Jiraiya put Naruto through the paces did his so called potential finally show.

"Even those archery skills?"

He couldn't help but shrug. "Ya you can say that. Most of what I can do isn't that special. Anybody can pick up a weapon and hit things with it, but mastering it is something that not even talent or blood will allow."

"I guess we can relate there Blondie."

The two looked over to a nonchalant Clarisse. "Children of Ares are supposed to be tough and all that ya know? He claims most of his kids, but only if he thinks they can shape up for battle. I boxed and played football before coming to camp, so that may have been the deciding factor in him claiming me. I can't count how many injuries I got in practicing with a sword or spear. And in the end, I was strong enough to even beat my older siblings to take the title of my cabins counselor."

The surprised look on Silena's face told Naruto she didn't know that. Personally, Naruto wasn't all that surprised. Maybe it was from all the training and fighting the two did in his time at the camp, but something told him there was a reason that Clarisse sought him out so much as a partner and took her losses so well.

It was likely reminiscent of how he once pulled pranks for attention. Clarisse wanted the attention of her parent just like the rest of the camp, and to do that she needed to learn how to fight as best as she could. That meant learning from her losses even if it hurt her pride to lose in the first place.

And in the end, her painful training had come to fruition given that Ares had gifted her a spear. It made Naruto wonder how hard Clarisse pushed herself to beat even her older more experienced siblings.

Naruto immediately realized as well that it was for the best for both Percy and Clarisse that he interfered during Capture the Flag when he did. From the looks of things, Percy would have broken that spear to help himself, and that would have just lead to a worse situation for him.

"I guess since we're on the topic of our godly parents in a way, I suppose I should mention that for me and a few of my other siblings, being a child of Aprodite is hard. At least if we actually want to do other things that she doesn't really approve of. The rest of my siblings embody all the shallow stereotypical sides of my mom that everyone always think about when they picture Aphrodite. Before I became counselor, one of my older siblings left camp for good because he wanted to learn more about forging and the whole process from Hephaestus's kids, but never could because the counselor, the cabin and Mom never approved of it. And even though we all say she always claims her kids, I'm sure that it's only because they actually reach her standard of looks and that I have some unknowing sibling with Hermes's cabin. I guess I'm lucky that my looks and my charmspeak allowed me to have so much of her attention..."

Naruto had a frown on his face. He didn't approve of how the gods didn't always claim their children, although the minor gods weren't counted in that seeing as they always claimed their children. Of the male gods, he was sure that only Hephaestus, Hermes, and surprisingly Dionysius without a doubt always claimed their children. Of the goddesses, only Demeter and Athena claimed them all as well-though he was sure that if it wasn't for the fact that Athena only made her mind babies with smart men and thus her children were smart as well, she would have never bothered to claim them.

"Although blondie, if anyone's gonna have a hard time pleasing their parent, it might just be you."

He got rid of the frown and raised an eyebrow. "Why?"

Clarisse rolled her eyes. "Other than the fact that you're a guy and not a girl that she can accept without a problem? Well. Those hunters of hers are gonna be a big problem. Even if she can put her grudge aside only for you, I doubt those girls will feel the same way."

Naruto didn't take a second to respond. "Honestly I wouldn't bother to worry about me so much. Even if they don't like me at first. They'll change their mind."

After all, even Sasuke and Sakura couldn't resist his attempts of friendship. Even Zabuza, who was more than willing to kill some naive brat decided that the blonde was instead destined for greatness. Kakashi and Jiraiya joked that as long as someone has a heart, he would eventually have a place in it. That was proven by the fact that even shinobi from the other villages decided they liked him like Zabuza and Haku once did. Tsunade herself admitted that Naruto was the only reason she came back to the village, not even Shizune or Jiraiya asking her together would have pulled that off. He had somehow punched his way into the icy cold walls she put up around her heart in her grief.

This was why Naruto wasn't worried one bit. He didn't think it was arrogant to say he was completely unlike the type of male that those girls hated, and adding in all his characteristics that his shinobi comrades and enemies saw, them hating him forever wasn't possible.

Besides even if they did hate him forever, it didn't matter much to him. He had come a long way from that kid who needed to validate his existence using others' acknowledgment. Even if his mom decided she hated him because of her hunters he would eventually recover, because he knew that there were more important things at stake then love.

"Naruto, I'm your best friend, and I know that you say optimism is one of your best traits, but don't you think your being too optimistic about this? Most, if not all of those girls, became Artemis's hunters because they shared her hatred of males."

Naruto gave a whole hearted smile that made both girls stop. "And why shouldn't I hope? The hope we have in reaching our goals...isn't it something we need to keep with us as we walk forward? What I'm doing in believing they'll turn around is no different from Clarisse training herself to get her fathers attention, or you fighting to bring attention to your mother and your siblings to not be what everyone sees you to be. You both are holding onto the hope that what you're doing will pay off, and that's what I'm doing as well. I'm just fully aware and accepting of the fact."

Silena and Clarisse were stunned into silence. Naruto would always choose to be optimistic over anything else no matter how foolish he would need to be. There was once a time when he fought as a Shinobi to show his village he was more than a demon, and he walked forward knowing the day would eventually come Despite not having any assurances-and before he came to this world it did come true.

After some time Naruto chuckled. "When I chose you two for this quest, I never imagined that we would be so similar. Regardless of our situation, we all acted in order to get attention, and yet we also did so without really losing who we really are inside."

The two girls were silent. They just didn't know what to say anymore. Everything Naruto said was spot on. Silena didn't mind acting all flirty and cute, Clarisse didn't mind being a bit more forceful and masculine, and Naruto once upon a time didn't mind pulling bothersome pranks even if it got him in trouble, but the faces they showed to others weren't everything they were. They forced away parts of themselves in the face of the public. Silena hid that she liked nerdy and geeky things in favor of talking about gossip and makeup, Clarisse hid that she sometimes wanted to talk about romance or sometimes change how she wore her hair, and Naruto hid that despite his eternal cheerfulness and desire to help others, there was a dark creature inside him that was created by his years of isolation-one that wouldn't hesitate to burn the world.

Although this new world had allowed him time to think about a lot things in his life, and his self training as a hunter allowed him to accept that beast within that nobody knew about.

Silena hesitantly tried to break the silence. "Well I guess my anime weren't wrong after all right? I mean this was definitely a bond sesh."

Naruto and Clarisse echoed. "Yup."

The three decided that they needed to go back to being regular teenagers and talked as if they never knew about monsters and gods. They talked about music, school, even celebrities.

They talked like good friends with a normal life.

But all the serious talk had Naruto wonder when he was gonna tell the two girls about him being a Jinchuuriki. He wasn't as self conscious about that anymore, and he was pretty sure the two girls wouldn't care either way, but it wasn't exactly something you could just say. 'Oh hey, I forgot to mention that I basically have a beast inside me that can destroy this entire world and even the gods' as if he could just say that.

He didn't have much time to think about it as everything that could go wrong, went wrong.

The first sign that something was going wrong was the sound. It reminded him of the crackling of a fire being started.

The second sign was when the plane became off balance while accompanied with the crackling.

The third sign, was perhaps the most difficult to bear with- the piercing screams of both Silena and Clarisse.

"EEEEEEE! Naruto please tell me you can land us somewhere!"

Naruto wished it would be that easy. The crack in the ground from their previous fight had broke one of the landing gears right as they took off. Even worse, the apparent loss of the right wing wasn't very helpful in finding somewhere to land.

"Working on it!"

His mind went into overdrive. But there was nothing he could do.

He grabbed the two girls and jumped out of the plane while trying to drive the plane straight down. Luckily, the gas was near empty from the long trip, so a big explosion wasn't very likely.

"EEEEEEEEEEEEEE!"

He winced as he never realized Clarisse could scream like one of the girls in those horror movies. He reached for the parachute only to realize that with his arm protectively around Silena he couldn't touch the chute enough to pull it.

She seemed to get what he meant to do however, as she felt him pull her somewhat to his back. She reached forward as quickly as she could and after grasping what she hoped was parachute, she pulled.

Luckily, it worked. A hard tug up stopped their momentum and they now safely fell towards the ground.

"Holy shit." Clarisse said.

"Nice job Silena. You saved our asses there."

"Holy-"

"I'm just glad I pulled the right string."

"-Shit."

"There's no need to worry about all our stuff either, those cases are hard enough to withstand the weight of an elephant, a few bumps aren't much."

"Holy shit."

"So how are you feeling Clarisse?"

"That was one of the worst things I've ever experienced. I can't believe I wanted to stick my head out of the plane."

The other two laughed at her expense.

"At least you won't have to worry about that anymore. I highly doubt the plane survived that. Luckily our stuff were in pretty hard cases. I knew it was a good idea to make those durable."

They landed on a small cliff overlooking a forest, so they could get lucky and find their stuff pretty quickly with an overhead view.

Naruto looked over to see a trail of smoke, hopefully no fire accompanied it.

"Where are we?" Silena asked curiously.

"A forest by the looks of it." Naruto responded.

"Oh joy, this probably means we have to camp out here for the night then." Clarisse sighed.

"Probably. Who knows how big this forest is. At least we know what direction to head."

Traversing through the forest was surprisingly uneventful. They got to their stuff not too long after the crash, luckily the plane wasn't too far, although the sun was starting to set.

The three grabbed their stuff which were mostly in perfect condition(wasn't surprising to see them banged up from the insides) but Naruto had a scowl as he looked at the blackened remains of the white plane's right side. A look at his companions showed that they hadn't noticed what he did, and he wondered if he should inform them of any of his thoughts.

He silently readjusted his belongings on his back. He'll keep these thoughts secret for now. If he understood anything from his time as a Shinobi as well as his knowledge of quests, it was that nothing was ever what it seemed.

"Well lookie here." Naruto turned as he heard Clarisse's voice. He saw two girls in clothing that was not very normal. One girl had ginger colored hair and looked as muscled as Clarisse. The other had black hair and seemed more like a normal girl aside from the callouses on her hands. The first girl had a look of disdain while the other looked like a rich girl who came across a hobo.

"What are you doing here?" Clarisse said accusingly.

The black haired girl answered quickly. "Well we came to investigate why a plane crashed out of nowhere but clearly it was because one of you didn't even bother to learn how to pilot."

All 4 girls glared daggers at each other. Hoping to stop a fight he began to talk. "So who are you two?"

The two strangers gave a look at each other and at him. The ginger spoke first, "I'm Phoebe and this is Naomi, we are Hunters of Artemis."

His eyes widened. In hindsight he probably should have come to that realization himself.

"I don't suppose you'd be willing to tell me how the news of my existence came to you?" There was no doubt that they knew given the not so subtle stink eyes.

"I can do better, I can show you." Naomi stretched her hand and mist wrapped around them from her fingertips.

* * *

In the middle of a forest was a large campsite that contained various different sized silver tents pocketing the area with a big camp fire in the middle. There was a pen that had a pack of wolves stationing in it while in the trees all around them were large birds of prey that observed the surroundings.

All around the campfire were girls wearing silver jackets.

At the head of the campfire was a girl with copper like skin with black lush hair that was tied into a braid that draped over her right shoulder. She wore a silver circlet around her head, So for Naruto was easy to tell she was different from the rest.

The girls were talking away quietly before they were interrupted by a light in front of them.

When the light died down they saw two rainbow screens, however they all scowled when they saw camp half blood. 'Huh, they seem to not like the camp.'

"Ugh, why are we being shown that camp."

"Tch. I almost lost my appetite."

"Someone just disperse them already. I don't want to look at those fools while im eating."

"Tis enough." The circlet wearer said with a voice of authority.

"Zoë"-

"There is no doubt in my mind that Lady Artemis is showing us this for a reason. Thus, we shall watch regardless of qualms. Understood?" The now revealed Zoe said.

A new voice entered the conversation. It was clear to Naruto who it was and he memorized her appearance, she looked to be in her 20s. She wore green clothes under the same cloak the other girls wore. Her hair shined by the flames. "You did well to qualm them Zoe. I asked Iris to show us these screens. Specifically, I asked her to show another screen to focus on a certain someone. Save your comments until the very end."

Quick murmurs came from the girls before they sat and watched the game, with scowls and demeaning looks on their face.

Naruto wanted to chuckle at their jaws dropping. He saw some of them praise his skills, others begrudgingly acknowledged that he was likely the strongest of the camp but stubbornly said they could beat him. His mother only had a small smile but it was hard to tell due to the dark surroundings, fire or no fire.

When Naruto through the Iris message was taunting and systematically destroying the Ares kids, the hunters were impressed and had actually smiled and seemingly approved of him. Secretly he hoped that feeling would last.

His mother on the other hand was now very clearly smiling and was impressed. For an outsider it would look like she simply simply thought the blonde kid kicking ass was good, but that blonde kid could feel the pride.

He was actually surprised as the hunters, due to the Iris message moving, had seen the hellhounds the moment they appeared. More than a few of them had shouted warnings, some more demeaning than others. Naruto's quick reaction and skill had impressed them once again, and he saw that Artemis had relaxed as the danger passed, and then tensed again. He didn't need to look at the screen to know why.

"N-N-Naruto Uzumaki. Son of A-Artemis. Pôtnia Therôn and the Selasphoros. All hail the Son of the Huntress."

The Hunters of Artemis all sat still with shock and disbelief shown evident on their face at what they had just seen and heard.

They had all dropped their food, too angry to even think about eating. Their lady would not have a child. THEY were her children. Not! This!-This! Boy!

The girls jumped with anger and confusion on their faces shouting out their thoughts and scaring the nearby animals.

The Virgin Goddess Lady Artemis would never have had a boy was a thought from the camp. These sentiments were shared by these girls.

"That camp...how dare they try to insinuate that a boy would be her child!"

"M'Lady! How do we punish those imbeciles!"

"We do not."

The girls were shocked by that reply and stopped making a racket.

"I saw your faces. However little, you seemed to believe that my Son was no typical male. For some of you, accepting him will be easier due to your experiences, for those of you who have been by my side much longer, simply wait until you meet him face to face. I will not speak of the harsh experience Naruto has faced, but it is far darker than anything the rest of you have faced. He is the type of Male that we wished there was excess of, rather than a lack."

That seemed to appeal to some of them, yet one girl in particular seemed to completely try to pretend that wasn't said.

One of the girls, a young 10, maybe 11 year old, seemed to speak up when no one else wanted to. "Well, I guess that explains why some of us didn't mind him, he IS yours."

Whether it was a joke or not, he didn't know, but it got some of them laughing or smiling.

It seemed to lighten the mood for most of them, but a select few stayed pensive.

Then the world faded.

* * *

"Well, I suppose it went somewhat fine." To be honest it was the best Naruto thought it would be.

"For now, there may still be a grudge to have." Phoebe said. Her words made Silena's eye twitch.

Naomi was much lighter. "Personally I hope you prove us wrong. As our Ladies' child I'd prefer if I didn't want to shoot you with an arrow every time I look at you. That remains the consensus."

Clarisse reeled in her grudge for the Hunters. "So why're you even here. Something tells me it ain't for a vacation."

"We are-" Naomi stopped and the hunters and Naruto looked as an old woman hobbled from behind a tree.

"Oh my, this is quite the crash, I'm glad you children are quite fine but it's dangerous to be out here." Her words were kind and soft.

"Why?" Silena asked before him.

Perhaps not surprisingly, Phoebe had answered. "There is a...bear problem lately." Her eyes told the quest takers it wasn't a normal problem.

"It was such a shame too, I had hoped to acquire some materials for a gift to my grandson."

Naruto went and handed over some things to her. "Well, I don't need these, so you can use them."

"Oho. You are very kinds. Those eyes of yours are very compassionate. But also very hard. In fact you remind me of my niece. She was also always too kind and hardheaded than she should be." The old woman smiled.

Naruto scratched his head. "Eh. I can't help it. Better to be a fool if it means doing things that are right, no matter how illogical."

The hunters had to force themselves to blink as they were reminded of something.

"If you want, we can accompany you out the forest if it's not safe." Naruto offered.

"Ah, that's quite fine, I live in a cabin not far from here, and the Bears are on the other side of the forest. But please come with, I'd like to gift you for your kindness."

The look in her eyes said that saying no wasn't an option, so the three accepted while the hunters decided to stick around to find out more about Naruto.

Like she said, the cabin wasn't very far, in fact the plane could have crashed into it, which made Naruto sweat as he realized that fact. The girls seemed to enjoy the sight of that but were glad it didn't.

"Now, just wait honey, I can make something real fancy with the leftover of these teeth you gave me. Won't even take an hour."

The girls deadpanned at Naruto as they saw that he gave the woman the hellhound teeth he kept on him. As the old lady went inside the small cabin he shrugged. "Well it's not as if I'll need all of those."

"Tell me, Naruto, Lady Artemis is very convinced that you're not like most men, what do YOU, think of that." Phoebe was apparently very blunt or very uncaring Naruto thought.

Silena chipped in. "Naruto is a great guy! Lady Artemis should be happy to have a son like him." Phoebe and Silena glared at each others eyes and he sighed. The two seemed to have a grudge against each other.

He interrupted before they locked fists. "You want me to be honest? It's because I'm me. I won't pretend to be humble and say I'm not different from most people of both genders. I am. Sometimes I'm not smart, sometimes I can be too aggressive or even perverted. But like I said to the old woman, I'll do what I think is right, no matter how impossible, no matter how stupid it may seem. If being a fool means keeping my values? I'll be a fool forever. Because some things are worth the pain."

"And what are these values?" Naomi said purely curious.

"I'll say this much, "Those who break the rules may be trash, but those who abandon their friends are lower than trash". I don't care what anybody else says or thinks, but if my friends' are in trouble I'll do whatever I can to save them."

Memories and images of Sasuke falling into darkness without anyone to help him. But he wasn't alone. Naruto reached forward, no longer willing to stand back and watch his back, for he already failed once. Then it happened once more with Gaara. The crying redhead trapped in a sand shield-one that protected him from pain, yet kept kept the outside from even knowing that tears were being shed inside. And so he broke that shield, knowing that if he didn't, his friends might die, and just as importantly the boy inside would never know the light from the darkness within.

His conviction seemed to impress the hunters and Clarisse. Silena was just taking in the new side of Naruto she's never seen.

"I see...then if it comes to finding the Lightning bolt, or saving these two, what would you do?" Phoebe said.

"I would save them." He answered without missing a beat.

Phoebe seemed to give an impressed smile, one that shocked Naomi it seemed.

"Perhaps you are not as bad as I feared. You should come with us back to camp, Lady Artemis is not there at the moment, but she will be, there'll be nothing stopping you from seeing her- but even so, don't think I don't remember how you said you were perverted, you best restrain yourself." Phoebe wanted to bring him to Zoe and the rest, to see if her judgment was correct.

Clarisse and Silena expected him to say yes. After all, this was practically the best chance for him to show the hunter who he was, plus he could meet Artemis.

But they expected too much.

He sighed with a smile. "How about a rain check. Heading over to the other side of the forest would set us back. Despite what I said, I'd like to find the bolt and keep America from being destroyed by a bunch of Man-children. I don't really intend on letting my desires keep me from my job, or in this case, quest."

Both Phoebe and Naomi were impressed once more. His friends on the other hand were rather shocked but knew they couldn't dissuade him.

"But still, tell the other hunters I'd li- wait." He stopped and narrowed eyes. The others jumped at his sudden stop. He transformed his sword and motioned for the others to follow. They dropped what they need to and ventured into the woods with him. The hunters on the other hand got out their bows and told him he better not be messing around(as if he would, that would destroy all the brownie points).

Passing by trees he sniffed the air. He didn't know what it was, but it reminded him of the feeling that hellhounds give off.

He heard growling and ducked as a tree flew toward him. "Woah!"

"WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT!" Clarisse shouted, ducking under the same tree.

"That," Naomi emphasized, "is our bear problem. And it was indeed a problem. The bear was taller than Clarisse and Phoebe together(and they were the tallest of the groups). It was wide, brown, and it's claws looked like steel.

"Arrrrrteeemmmmiiiisss." Naruto heard growling from behind.

'Fuck.'

He went into action immediately. "Phoebe, Naomi! Get into the trees and attack from above! Silena use your bow and use the tree trunks as cover! Clarisse lets wrestle with the bear!" The blonde said.

Running forward Naruto slid on his knees and slashed its leg, hoping it wasn't as tough as he thought it was. The sword sliced, but it wasn't as big as he hoped.

But this was enough. It told him it would be easier to hurt in comparison to Skorpius.

The hunters were already in the trees by the time he struck. Phoebe shot with her bow, with some piercing it's hide, and some bouncing off. She settled for long draws to get the power to pierce the bear. Naomi on the other hand settled for something Naruto hadn't seen in this world. She summoned a small fireball, before remembering she was in a forest. Diminishing it, she settled for using her magic to move the air around the monstrous bear. Trying to make it slower, to push it down or into trees. Given its size however, it was no easy task.

Silena followed his words and like Phoebe, tried to draw her bow with power, but the girl knew she wasn't strong like the hunter. She was not weak by any means, her body, as Naruto once said, was styled for flexibility and speed. But that didn't mean she couldn't try something. She moved quickly around the trees and planned on shooting it's mouth and hind, knowing those were easier and more vulnerable targets from Naruto's teachings. She kept away from its eyes for now, as it might rampage into the trees the hunters were on or even the house of the old woman.

Clarisse had followed Naruto into the fight with her spear and shield. She initially stabbed forward with her spear, only for the bear to catch it into its mouth by the stick and not the blade. "You are not breaking it!" She bashed it's head with her bright shield. Pulling her spear back, she tried once more and pierced it's ear, only to earn a giant bear slap in return. She slammed into the tree, shouting in pain as her skin broke.

"Clarisse!" Silena's concentration broke as she shouted to her friend in pain, she was forced to backpedal but tripped over a root as the Bears attention came to her as she was on its good ear's side.

The bear stood on its hind legs to get to her only for a strong gust of wind to hit one of its legs, making it trip and fall. Naruto and Phoebe took this chance to riddle it. The blonde hunter jumped on the bear and stabbed at it, not going too deep less his blade get stuck. The ginger huntress had shot her arrows into it's arms, hoping for one of them to cut into a muscle that would stop it from moving.

The Ursa Minor knocked off the blonde. It rushed to the tree and knocked it down, nearly crushing Phoebe under it. It roared in pain and anger as Clarisse stabbed into one of the arrows Phoebe shot, crushing the arrow and burying it into the arm. It's arm went limp, however it swung it's body and hit Clarisse into Naruto.

Both groaned. "Uggggh. What the fuck is this bear." Clarisse was losing her temper due to the blood shed. Her pupils were red.

Naruto shrug off his pain much easier. "Well seeing as their aren't many Bears in legends, I'd say it's one of the Bears made into a constellation by either my mom or Zeus."

There was apparently a pattern involving monsters and Artemis the two noticed separately.

"Wait, did you say one of?"

The two saw Phoebe slowly get up from fallen position. Naomi had a look of panic on her face and using her line of sight they saw an even Bigger and Darker bear approaching behind Silena, who had the attention of the smaller yet still big bear as well.

Naruto cursed. He grabbed Clarisse and threw her at the injured bear, and jumped off the trees to punch the new one in the face.

"W-wha!?" Clarisse hadn't expected to be thrown so easily and without any words, but she recovered easily, holding her spear up it tore straight into it's neck. She lost her breath as her body still painfully slammed into its body and she dropped to the floor as her spear was stuck once more into a monster.

The daughter of war closed her eyes and groaned in pain. Unknowing, the Ursa Minor turned and tried to step on his attacker.

But just before it could succeed, its target was tackled out of the way. Air twisting under its foot keeping its mid air. It gargled and broke the wind barrier, making the surrounding trees shake and leaves fell even more.

Two girls groaned in pain once more. Opening her eyes Clarisse saw Phoebe who was struggling to move. Placing the just as tall girl on her back, Clarisse stumbled and tried to lead it away.

Meanwhile Naruto clutched his punching hand and cursed(and he realized he was doing that a lot lately, and in the back of his mind wondered if that was how shitty these situations were or is Clarisse was rubbing off on him). It felt like he punched Gaara's sand armor. He wrapped his arms around the Ursa Major's neck and swung around behind it so it's long arms couldn't reach him. He gathered chakra into his sword sliced, the air singing along. Hearing the familiar sound he grinned only to lose it as he is crushed in between a tree and a bear.

"RRRRRRR!" His eyes turned red and he clutched harder in pain and bit the bear in true Naruto fashion.

It did nothing.

Except annoy her even more as she slammed Naruto into different trees, staining her dark fur with his blood as it spurted from his mouth.

Silena nearly froze again. She didn't move until she wanted to slap Naruto's head for biting the former nymph now bear. The shock pushed her to act as she shot arrows into the very large hole on the Bears front, made easier by the fact that it kept trying to crush Naruto. She noticed the few arrows she shot pierced deeper than it should have, even with the new vulnerability.

Glancing at the arrowhead of the currently notched arrow, she saw wind gathering at the tip.

She let it loose and continued firing arrows.

Naomi was nearly about to burn this whole forest down if it killed the damn Bears. They were so large that her magic did nearly nothing to them, and she was exhausted doing the few things that did something. Luckily she got an idea from watching the wind gather to the point of her lady's son and saw it slice the bear hide like butter. Gathering wind at the tips of the Aphrodite daughter's arrows, it became more deadly and more effective. She merely hoped the blond could withstand the punishment.

Inwardly she also agreed with his earlier words saying he wasn't quite the smartest since he very stupidly bit Artemis's former nymph. It just made it/her want to kill the blonde more.

But eventually Naruto's grip faltered and he slipped down a tree. He was fairly certain his ribs were bruised from all that. Any other human would have broken everything not just broken ribs.

The monster aiming for vengeance tried to rip Naruto's head off with its teeth. Alas. It wasn't meant to be as Naruto held the lower and upper parts of her head, trying to keep it as open as possible. The only things he could see was the hate in the monsters eyes as well as its face.

He could hear something in the background, but couldn't tell what.

"Tu...e...d!"

'Urgh.'

"...uto!...rn...h...ed!"

It was getting closer. The teeth inches away.

"...! T...the...he..."

His hands were bleeding. His internals were working overtime.

"Naruto!...!"

Thinking he heard his name, his eyes glanced over to see Silena with panic on her face and fear in her eyes. Her bow was drawn. And the arrow was...

It was practically glowing.

Reacting to his eyes, Naruto twisted the Ursa Major's table big head and into Silena's direction.

Next thing he knows. The air cries out.

And his blood splatters. A hard thud with it.


End file.
